Vancouver / Names / O / Olsen / Comox Street

A family name on Comox Street, West End

The Olsens

In the city directories 1940 · two people at two addresses

The directories print two people named Olsen at two addresses in 1940, all on Comox Street, with the close spelling Olesen. 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 48 other streets too, all listed on the Olsen 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 Olsens 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

    1145 Comox Street

    West End, 1940

    • J M Olsen 1940

    Next door in 1940: Miss M A McQuay at 1143 and K Ring at 1147. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    1151 Comox Street

    West End, 1940

    • J M Olsen, rooms to let 1940

    Next door in 1940: P H MacKay at 1149 and Mrs D M Holt at 1155. The block, door by door

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in West End (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 J M Olsen at 1145 Comox Street; the 1940 line is marked *: some member of the family owns the property, to the best of our knowledge (the directory's own mark). J M Olsen, rooms to let, is listed at 1151 Comox Street in 1940; the 1940 line is marked * too.

Today

The City no longer lists 1145 Comox and 1151 Comox, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Comox Street looking east from Denman, lined with cut-back boulevard trees
1925 Comox Street looking east from Denman, lined with cut-back boulevard trees. Not at the house at 1145 Comox: no archive photo of the 1100 block is known that we can show. City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 357-1. Public domain.

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 Olsens

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Olsen 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 O. Want a name removed? Tell us.