Vancouver / Names / N / Nelson / Main Street

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

The Nelsons

In the city directories 1940 · three people at three addresses

The directories print three people named Nelson at three addresses in 1940, all on Main Street, with the close spellings Neilson and Nielson. 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 134 other streets too, all listed on the Nelson 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 Nelsons 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

    917 Main Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • Ernest Nelson, a laborer 1940

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

  2. 2

    1001 Main Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • James Neilson, a fireman at Marpole Towing 1940

    Next door in 1940: Third & Dundas at 1019. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    2545 Main Street

    Mount Pleasant, 1940

    • C Nelson, a salesman 1940

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

What they did

The name section prints a trade for all three: a fireman, a laborer and a salesman.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Strathcona (2) and Mount Pleasant. 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 Ernest Nelson at 917 Main Street, a laborer. The 1940 name section lists James Neilson at 1001 Main Street, a fireman at Marpole Towing. In 1940 the directory lists C Nelson at 2545 Main Street. The 1940 name section lists Chris Nelson there as the householder, a salesman.

Today

917 Main and 2545 Main still have their buildings from before 1946; 1001 Main (2004) has a newer building, by the City's record.

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, name section, where each person's work is printed

The book of the Nelsons

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Nelson 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 N. Want a name removed? Tell us.