Vancouver / Names / F / Franzen

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Franzens

In the city directories 1940 · four people at two addresses

The directories print four people named Franzen 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. The most under one roof: three Franzens at 1041 Comox in 1940.

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 Franzens 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

    247 Abbott Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Ella Franzen, a maid at the Oland Rooms 1940

    Next door in 1940: Abbott House Assn at 233. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    1041 Comox Street

    West End, 1940

    • Mrs M Franzen, widow of J J 1940
    • Dorothy E Franzen, a stenographer at International Harvester 1940
    • Eileen H Franzen 1940

    Next door in 1940: G Simmers at 1033 and Mrs R E Wray at 1047. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for two of the four: a maid and a stenographer. One is a widow, listed under her own name.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown 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

The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Ella Franzen at 247 Abbott Street, a maid at the Oland Rooms. Mrs M Franzen is listed at 1041 Comox Street in 1940. The 1940 name section lists Matilda Franzen there as the householder, widow of J J, with Dorothy E Franzen, a stenographer at International Harvester, and Eileen H Franzen.

Today

1041 Comox still has its building from before 1946, dated 1911 by the City's record and on the Vancouver Heritage Register; the City no longer lists 247 Abbott, so that building is probably gone (inferred).

Comox Street looking east from Denman, lined with cut-back boulevard trees
1925 Comox Street looking east from Denman, lined with cut-back boulevard trees. Not at the house at 1041 Comox: no archive photo of the 1000 block is known that we can show. City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 357-1. Public domain.

Every line as printed

All 5 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 Franzens

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Franzen 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 F. Want a name removed? Tell us.