Vancouver / Names / O / Omstead

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Omsteads

In the city directories 1940 · four people at two addresses

The directories print four people named Omstead 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. The most under one roof: three Omsteads at 2153 Franklin in 1940.

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 Omsteads 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

    555 East Broadway

    Mount Pleasant, 1940

    • Mrs Dorothy Omstead 1940

    Next door in 1940: T Symington at 549 and G C McLeod at 563. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    2153 Franklin Street

    Grandview-Woodland, 1940

    • G E Omstead, a patrol sergeant at the City of Vancouver 1940
    • Mary Omstead, widow of G W 1940
    • Thelma Omstead, a packer at Canada Packers 1940

    Next door in 1940: C D MacQueen at 2149. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for two of the four: a packer and a patrol sergeant. One is a widow, listed under her own name.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Grandview-Woodland 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 Mrs Dorothy Omstead at 555 East Broadway. G E Omstead is listed at 2153 Franklin Street in 1940; 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 George E Omstead there as the householder, a patrol sergeant at the City of Vancouver, with Mary Omstead, widow of G W, and Thelma Omstead, a packer at Canada Packers.

Today

2153 Franklin still has its building from before 1946, dated 1912 by the City's record; the City no longer lists 555 East Broadway, so that building is probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 5 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 Omsteads

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Omstead 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.