Vancouver / Names / L / Lee / Main Street

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

The Lees

In the city directories 1940 · six people at six addresses

The directories print six people named Lee at six addresses in 1940, all on Main Street. 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 105 other streets too, all listed on the Lee 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 Lees 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

    229 Main Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Wong Lee 1940

    Next door in 1940: N Matsubayashi at 227 and Mrs Y Idenouye at 231. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    430 Main Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • J Lee, in fruit and produce 1940

    Next door in 1940: Y C School at 424 and E J Booker at 434. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    450 Main Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • John Lee, proprietor of J Lee & Co 1940

    Next door in 1940: McNeil's System at 444. The block, door by door

  4. 4

    543 Main Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • Yuk Lee, proprietor of Sun Yuen Co 1940

    Next door in 1940: Parkers Furn Exch at 541 and National Rooms at 545. The block, door by door

  5. 5

    850 Main Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • G Lee, a shoe repairer 1940
  6. 6

    940 Main Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • Mrs P Lee, who kept rooms to let 1940

    Next door in 1940: Tacoma Junk Co at 936 and Tacoma Junk Co (stge) at 942. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for four of the six: a proprietor (2), a fruit and produce and a shoe repairer.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Strathcona (5) and Downtown. 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 Wong Lee at 229 Main Street. J Lee, in produce, is listed at 430 Main Street in 1940. The 1940 name section lists Jack Lee there, in fruit and produce. The 1940 name section lists John Lee at 450 Main Street, proprietor of J Lee & Co.

In 1940 the directory lists Yuk Lee at 543 Main Street. The 1940 name section lists Yuk Lee there as the householder, proprietor of Sun Yuen Co. In 1940 the directory lists G Lee, a shoe repairer, at 850 Main Street. The 1940 name section lists G Lee there, a shoe repairer.

In 1940 the directory lists Mrs P Lee, rooms to let, at 940 Main Street. The 1940 name section lists Mrs Pearl Lee there, who kept rooms to let.

Today

450 Main still has its building from before 1946, dated 1901 by the City's record; the City no longer lists 229 Main, 430 Main, 543 Main, 850 Main and 940 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 430 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 10 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 Lees

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Lee 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 L. Want a name removed? Tell us.