Vancouver / Names / M / McDonald / Powell Street

A family name on Powell Street, Strathcona, Downtown and Grandview-Woodland

The McDonalds

In the city directories 1940 · seven people at six addresses

The directories print seven people named McDonald at six addresses in 1940, all on Powell 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 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

    43 Powell Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • R McDonald 1940
  2. 2

    55 Powell Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • James McDonald 1940

    Next door in 1940: Salv Army Japanese Corps at 53. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    123 Powell Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • D J McDonald 1940

    Next door in 1940: B C Junk at 135. The block, door by door

  4. 4

    786 Powell Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • Hugh MacDonald, retired 1940

    Next door in 1940: B Araki at 762 and Balkan Rooms at 788. The block, door by door

  5. 5

    1314 Powell Street

    Grandview-Woodland, 1940

    • J W MacDonald, a laborer 1940
  6. 6

    1355 Powell Street

    Grandview-Woodland, 1940

    • A McDonald, a carpenter 1940
    • D McDonald 1940

    Next door in 1940: Western Vinegars Ltd at 1365. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for two of the seven: a carpenter and a laborer.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown (3), Grandview-Woodland (2) and Strathcona. 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 R McDonald at 43 Powell Street. The 1940 name section lists James McDonald at 55 Powell Street. The 1940 name section lists D J McDonald at 123 Powell Street. The 1940 name section lists Hugh MacDonald at 786 Powell Street, retired.

In 1940 the directory lists J W MacDonald at 1314 Powell Street. The 1940 name section lists James W McDonald there as the householder, a laborer.

In 1940 the directory lists D McDonald at 1355 Powell Street. By 1940 it is A McDonald; 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 Archibald McDonald there, a carpenter.

Today

43 Powell and 55 Powell still have their buildings from before 1946, 55 Powell on the Vancouver Heritage Register; 786 Powell (1978) and 1314 Powell (1959) have newer buildings, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 123 Powell and 1355 Powell, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 9 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.