Vancouver / Names / D / Devost

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Devosts

In the city directories 1940 · two people at two addresses

The directories print two people named Devost at two addresses in 1940 in two of the city's neighbourhoods. No first name or initials tie one address to the other: 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 Devosts 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

    414 Main Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • P Devost, a fisherman 1940

    Next door in 1940: Main Confectionery at 410 and Hudson Furn at 416. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    107 West 17th Avenue

    Riley Park, 1940

    • Albert Devost, a longshoreman 1940

    Next door in 1940: L Rogers at 103 and A W Thompson at 127. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for all two: a fisherman and a longshoreman.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Riley Park and Strathcona. 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 P Devost at 414 Main Street. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Philip Devost there as the householder, a fisherman. The 1940 name section lists Albert Devost at 107 West 17th Avenue, a longshoreman.

Today

107 West 17th still has its building from before 1946, dated 1914 by the City's record; the City no longer lists 414 Main, so that building is 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 414 Main: no archive photo of the 400 block is known that we can show. City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 136-513. Public domain.

Every line as printed

All 3 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 Devosts

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Devost 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.

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 D. Want a name removed? Tell us.