Vancouver / Names / M / McDonald / Main Street

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

The McDonalds

In the city directories 1940 · twelve people at eight addresses

The directories print twelve people named McDonald at eight addresses in 1940, all on Main Street, with the close spellings MacDonald and Macdonald. No first name or initials tie one address to another: we can't tell if they're one family. The most under one roof: three McDonalds at 3516 Main in 1940. The directories print the name on 231 other streets too, all listed on the McDonald 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 McDonalds 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

    318 Main Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • Angus McDonald 1940
    • George McDonald 1940

    Next door in 1940: Lanning Pool Hall at 314 and N Aihoshi at 320. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    917 Main Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • Don McDonald, retired 1940

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

  3. 3

    1022 Main Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • John McDonald, a laborer 1940

    Next door in 1940: Van Bottle Co at 1020 and Main Sheet Metal Works at 1024. The block, door by door

  4. 4

    2339 Main Street

    Mount Pleasant, 1940

    • Alex McDonald, a motorman at the BC Electric Railway 1940
    • Ken MacDonald, proprietor of the Broadway Rooms 1940

    Next door in 1940: McCallum's Hdw Ltd at 2337 and Mt Pleasant Billiard Hall at 2341. The block, door by door

  5. 5

    3278 Main Street

    Riley Park, 1940

    • M McDonald 1940

    Next door in 1940: S C Bell at 3272 and W Elliott at 3282. The block, door by door

  6. 6

    3516 Main Street

    Riley Park, 1940

    • J MacDonald 1940
    • Mary Macdonald, a saleswoman 1940
    • William A MacDonald 1940

    Next door in 1940: J E Fuller at 3518. The block, door by door

  7. 7

    4429 Main Street

    Riley Park, 1940

    • E J McDonald, a driver at Northwestern Messenger 1940

    Next door in 1940: J Muir at 4419 and F G Lycett at 4431. The block, door by door

  8. 8

    6006 Main Street

    Sunset, 1940

    • A MacDonald, a motorman at the BC Electric Railway 1940

What they did

The name section prints a trade for six of the twelve: a motorman (2), a driver, a laborer, a proprietor and a saleswoman. Two of them worked for BC Electric Railway.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Riley Park (3), Strathcona (3), Mount Pleasant and Sunset. 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 Angus McDonald at 318 Main Street, with George McDonald. The 1940 name section lists Don McDonald at 917 Main Street, retired. The 1940 name section lists John McDonald at 1022 Main Street, a laborer. The 1940 name section lists Alex McDonald at 2339 Main Street, a motorman at the BC Electric Railway, with Ken MacDonald, proprietor of the Broadway Rooms.

In 1940 the directory lists M McDonald at 3278 Main Street. J MacDonald is listed at 3516 Main Street in 1940. The 1940 name section lists Joseph MacDonald there as the householder, with Mary Macdonald, a saleswoman, and William A MacDonald.

E J McDonald is listed at 4429 Main Street in 1940. The 1940 name section lists Edwin J McDonald there as the householder, a driver at Northwestern Messenger. A MacDonald is listed at 6006 Main Street in 1940; the 1940 line is marked *: some member of the family owns the property, to the best of our knowledge (the directory's own mark). The 1940 name section lists Alex McDonald there as the householder, a motorman at the BC Electric Railway.

Today

917 Main, 2339 Main and 3278 Main still have their buildings from before 1946; 1022 Main (1960) and 6006 Main (2012) have newer buildings, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 318 Main, 3516 Main and 4429 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 3516 Main: no archive photo of the 3500 block is known that we can show. City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 136-513. Public domain.

Every line as printed

All 15 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 McDonalds

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the McDonald 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 M. Want a name removed? Tell us.