Vancouver / Names / C / Central

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Centrals

In the city directories 1940 · eight people at seven addresses

The directories print eight people named Central at seven addresses in 1940 in three of the city's neighbourhoods. No first name or initials tie one address to another: we can't tell if they're one family.

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 Centrals 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

    725 Drake Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Curers Central 1940
  2. 2

    1058 Hamilton Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Warehouses Central 1940

    Next door in 1940: P B Primrose at 1056 and F W Sterling at 1060. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    1009 Harwood Street

    West End, 1940

    • Carps Central 1940
    • Carpenters ​ Central, a railwayman 1940

    Next door in 1940: S Heaven at 1017. The block, door by door

  4. 4

    522 Howe Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Signs (A J Foster) Central, a railwayman 1940

    Next door in 1940: Snappy Clnrs at 520 and Office Specialty Mfg Co at 536. The block, door by door

  5. 5

    325 Railway Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • Creameries Central 1940

    Next door in 1940: Fish Freezing Pacific at 305 and bc pharmacal co at 329. The block, door by door

  6. 6

    675 West Hastings Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Stenographers (Miss E Menzies) Central, a public stenographer 1412 1940

    Next door in 1940: P Miller at 623 and Bank Royal at 685. The block, door by door

  7. 7

    744 West Hastings Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Reporting Central 1940

    Next door in 1940: Tiny's Coffee Shop at 740. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for three of the eight: a railwayman (2) and a public stenographer.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown (5), Strathcona and West End. 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

In 1940 the directory lists Curers Central at 725 Drake Street. Warehouses Central is listed at 1058 Hamilton Street in 1940. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Warehouses Central there.

Carps Central is listed at 1009 Harwood Street in 1940. The 1940 name section lists Carpenters ​ Central there, a railwayman. The 1940 name section lists Signs (A J Foster) Central at 522 Howe Street, a railwayman. In 1940 the directory lists Creameries Central at 325 Railway Street; the 1940 line is marked *: some member of the family owns the property, to the best of our knowledge (the directory's own mark).

The 1940 name section lists Stenographers (Miss E Menzies) Central at 675 West Hastings Street, a public stenographer 1412. In 1940 the directory lists Reporting Central at 744 West Hastings Street.

Today

325 Railway, 675 West Hastings and 744 West Hastings still have their buildings from before 1946; 1009 Harwood (1949) has a newer building, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 725 Drake, 1058 Hamilton and 522 Howe, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 9 lines printed under the name through 1945, each with its page at the Vancouver Public Library.
1940

British Columbia and Yukon Directory, street section

The book of the Centrals

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Central 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.

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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 C. Want a name removed? Tell us.