Vancouver / Names / J / Johnston / Main Street

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

The Johnstons

In the city directories 1940 · two people at two addresses

The directories print two people named Johnston at two addresses in 1940, all on Main Street, with the close spelling Johnstone. No first name or initials tie one address to the other: we can't tell if they're one family. The directories print the name on 166 other streets too, all listed on the Johnston 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 Johnstons 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

    2545 Main Street

    Mount Pleasant, 1940

    • Mrs I M Johnstone, widow of G 1940

    Next door in 1940: Belvedere Delctsn at 2543 and W E Turnbull at 2549. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    4403 Main Street

    Riley Park, 1940

    • J R Johnston, a salesman at Safeway 1940

    Next door in 1940: E Busst at 4401 and Mrs E A Walker at 4405. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for one of the two: a salesman. One is a widow, listed under her own name.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in 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

In 1940 the directory lists Mrs I M Johnstone at 2545 Main Street. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Isabelle M Johnstone there as the householder, widow of G. In 1940 the directory lists J R Johnston at 4403 Main Street. The 1940 name section lists James R Johnston there as the householder, a salesman at Safeway.

Today

2545 Main still has its building from before 1946, dated 1916 by the City's record; the City no longer lists 4403 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 2545 Main: no archive photo of the 2500 block is known that we can show. City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 136-513. Public domain.

Every line as printed

All 4 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 Johnstons

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Johnston 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.