Vancouver / Names / J / Johnson / Main Street

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

The Johnsons

In the city directories 1940 · six people at six addresses

The directories print six people named Johnson at six addresses in 1940, all on Main Street, with the close spellings Johanson, Johannson and Johansson. No first name or initials tie one address to another: we can't tell if they're one family. The directories print the name on 209 other streets too, all listed on the Johnson 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 Johnsons 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

    331 Main Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • W Johnson 1940

    Next door in 1940: Importing Standard at 327 and BC Pub Mkt at 333. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    645 Main Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • Charles Johnson 1940

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

  3. 3

    917 Main Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • Frank Johanson, a sacker at Community Coal 1940

    Next door in 1940: Better 'Ole (The) at 915 and Machinery Jobbing & Junk Co at 925. The block, door by door

  4. 4

    1038 Main Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • Emil Johnson, a floor layer at Parquet Floor 1940

    Next door in 1940: Main Sheet Metal Works at 1024. The block, door by door

  5. 5

    2331 Main Street

    Mount Pleasant, 1940

    • V J Johnson, a furniture 1940

    Next door in 1940: J W Shellshear at 2321 and W Hall at 2333. The block, door by door

  6. 6

    3835 Main Street

    Riley Park, 1940

    • C N Johnson, a laborer 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs M Anderson at 3837. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for three of the six: a floor layer, a laborer and a sacker.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Strathcona (4), Mount Pleasant and Riley Park. 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 W Johnson at 331 Main Street. The 1940 name section lists Charles Johnson at 645 Main Street. The 1940 name section lists Frank Johanson at 917 Main Street, with Frank Johnson, a sacker at Community Coal. The 1940 name section lists Emil Johnson at 1038 Main Street, a floor layer at Parquet Floor.

In 1940 the directory lists V J Johnson, a furniture, at 2331 Main Street. C N Johnson is listed at 3835 Main Street in 1940. The 1940 name section lists Cecil N Johnson there as the householder, a laborer.

Today

917 Main and 1038 Main still have their buildings from before 1946, 1038 Main on the Vancouver Heritage Register; 3835 Main (2008) has a newer building, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 331 Main, 645 Main and 2331 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 917 Main: no archive photo of the 900 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 Johnsons

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Johnson 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 J. Want a name removed? Tell us.