Vancouver / Names / M / McKay / Water Street

A family name on Water Street, Downtown

The McKays

In the city directories 1940 · two people at two addresses

The directories print two people named McKay at two addresses in 1940, all on Water Street, with the close spellings MacKay and Mackay. 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 148 other streets too, all listed on the McKay 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 McKays lived

Each pin is on its own block, numbered as the households below. One address isn't on today's map, so it has no pin. Today's land, parks, main roads and local areas: City of Vancouver Open Data (Open Government Licence – Vancouver).
  1. 1

    170 Water Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Smith Blair (shipping dept) Mackay 1940

    Next door in 1940: Ford Import Co at 162. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    367 Water Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • William A McKay, a plant superintendent at Nabob Food Products & Regal Fruit Division 1940

    Next door in 1940: kelly douglas bldg at 365. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for one of the two: a plant superintendent.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown (2). 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 Smith Blair (shipping dept) Mackay at 170 Water Street. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists William A McKay at 367 Water Street, a plant superintendent at Nabob Food Products & Regal Fruit Division.

Today

The City no longer lists 170 Water and 367 Water, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 2 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 McKays

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the McKay 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.

We're opening orders soon. Join the list to be first in line; we expect about $29 a family.

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.