Vancouver / Names / H / Hirayama

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Hirayamas

In the city directories 1940 · two people at two addresses

The directories print two people named Hirayama 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 Hirayamas 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

    1215 Kingsway

    Kensington-Cedar Cottage, 1940

    • K Hirayama, proprietor of H Y Grocery and Jubilee Cleaners 1940

    Next door in 1940: J C Best at 1249. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    663 Smithe Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Sadaichi Hirayama, proprietor of Seymour Cleaners 1940

    Next door in 1940: Pac Hat Works at 657 and Acme Radio Serv at 665. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for all two: a proprietor (2).

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown and Kensington-Cedar Cottage. 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 K Hirayama at 1215 Kingsway. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Kihachi Hirayama there as the householder, proprietor of H Y Grocery and Jubilee Cleaners. The 1940 name section lists Sadaichi Hirayama at 663 Smithe Street, proprietor of Seymour Cleaners.

Today

The City no longer lists 1215 Kingsway and 663 Smithe, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

People in open cars gathered for a car rally on Kingsway
1913 People in open cars gathered for a car rally on Kingsway. Not at the house at 1215 Kingsway: no archive photo of the 1200 block is known that we can show. City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 371-2294. 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 Hirayamas

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Hirayama 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 H. Want a name removed? Tell us.