Vancouver / Names / B / Brown / Main Street

A family name on Main Street, Riley Park, Strathcona, Downtown, Mount Pleasant and Sunset

The Browns

In the city directories 1940 · seven people at five addresses

The directories print seven people named Brown at five addresses in 1940, all on Main Street, with the close spelling Browne. No first name or initials tie one address to another: we can't tell if they're one family. The most under one roof: three Browns at 645 Main in 1940. The directories print the name on 254 other streets too, all listed on the Brown name's own page.

Reserve this family's book, freeThe name in every directory we hold from 1901 to 1945, at every address, each line with its page, to read here or save as a PDF. About $29 when orders open.

Where the Browns lived

Each pin is on its own block, numbered as the households below. Today's land, parks, main roads and local areas: City of Vancouver Open Data (Open Government Licence – Vancouver).
  1. 1

    318 Main Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • Mrs Clara M Brown 1940

    Next door in 1940: Lanning Pool Hall at 314 and N Aihoshi at 320. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    645 Main Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • Charles Brown 1940
    • David J Brown, a painter 1940
    • Michael Browne 1940

    Next door in 1940: Miss F Fujino at 641. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    956 Main Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • Frederick W Brown, a polisher at Dominion Furniture 1940

    Next door in 1940: Western Feed Co at 946 and Atlantic Junk Co at 958. The block, door by door

  4. 4

    3264 Main Street

    Riley Park, 1940

    • E T Brown, a janitor 1940

    Next door in 1940: Royal Crown Meat Mkt at 3260 and Lee Go at 3268. The block, door by door

  5. 5

    4607 Main Street

    Riley Park, 1940

    • Matilda Brown, widow of S 1940

    Next door in 1940: Concord Furn Store at 4605. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for three of the seven: a janitor, a painter and a polisher. One is a widow, listed under her own name.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Strathcona (3) and Riley Park (2). Each neighbourhood's page shows its trades, its people and every street in it, the way the directory printed them.

The story, address by address

The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Mrs Clara M Brown at 318 Main Street. The 1940 name section lists Charles Brown at 645 Main Street, with David J Brown, a painter, and Michael Browne. The 1940 name section lists Frederick W Brown at 956 Main Street, a polisher at Dominion Furniture.

E T Brown is listed at 3264 Main Street in 1940. The 1940 name section lists Edward T Brown there as the householder, a janitor. The 1940 name section lists Matilda Brown at 4607 Main Street, widow of S.

Today

956 Main, 3264 Main and 4607 Main still have their buildings from before 1946; the City no longer lists 318 Main and 645 Main, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Streetcars on Main Street, past a row of billboards
March 1940 Streetcars on Main Street, past a row of billboards. Not at the house at 645 Main: no archive photo of the 600 block is known that we can show. City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 136-513. Public domain.

Every line as printed

All 8 lines printed under the name through 1945, each with its page at the Vancouver Public Library.
1940

British Columbia and Yukon Directory, name section, where each person's work is printed

The book of the Browns

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Brown name in each Vancouver directory we hold from 1901 to 1945: everyone printed under it at every address, their work from the name sections, who lived next door, and the page behind every line, to read here or save as a PDF to print or give.

We're opening orders soon. Join the list to be first in line; we expect about $29 a family.

One email, when it's ready. We use your email for nothing else and never share it. Privacy

Another name, or a house

Sources

Henderson's and successor city directories for Vancouver, read by us line by line: the street sections for 1905, 1915, 1925, 1935, 1940 and 1945, and the name section for 1930 and 1940 where we've read it (Vancouver Public Library, BC City Directories). Names are shown through 1945, as printed. Close spellings are grouped, as on the house pages, since a family's name was often spelled differently from one year to the next; one name can still be several families, and we join lines only where the first names or initials agree. Many Chinese, Japanese and other residents weren't named by the canvassers, so they can't be listed by name: their houses' pages say where. More family names under B. Want a name removed? Tell us.