Vancouver / Names / O / Omatsu

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Omatsus

In the city directories 1940 · three people at two addresses

The directories print three people named Omatsu at two addresses in 1940 in two of the city's neighbourhoods. No first name or initials tie one address to the other: we can't tell if they're one family.

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 Omatsus 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

    501 East Georgia Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • Ringo Omatsu, proprietor of Harry's Grocery 1940

    Next door in 1940: Progressive Youth Club at 505. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    2480 Granville Street

    Fairview, 1940

    • D Omatsu, proprietor of Broadway Confectionery 1940
    • Torazo Omatsu, a salesman at Broadway Confectionery 1940

    Next door in 1940: H & M Motors at 2466. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for all three: a proprietor (2) and a salesman. Two of them worked for Broadway Confectionery.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Fairview 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 Ringo Omatsu at 501 East Georgia Street, proprietor of Harry's Grocery. D Omatsu is listed at 2480 Granville Street in 1940. The 1940 name section lists Denno Omatsu there as the householder, proprietor of Broadway Confectionery, with Torazo Omatsu, a salesman at Broadway Confectionery.

Today

The City no longer lists 501 East Georgia and 2480 Granville, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Riders in uniform lead a parade along Granville Street, past crowds on the sidewalk
1917 Riders in uniform lead a parade along Granville Street, past crowds on the sidewalk. Not at the house at 2480 Granville: no archive photo of the 2400 block is known that we can show. City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 99-350. 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 Omatsus

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Omatsu 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.