Vancouver / Names / P / Picken

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Pickens

In the city directories 1940 · four people at three addresses

The directories print four people named Picken at three addresses in 1940 in two of the city's neighbourhoods. No first name or initials tie one address to another: 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 Pickens 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

    2126 West 15th Avenue

    Kitsilano, 1940

    • W F Picken 1940

    Next door in 1940: A Hornstein at 2114 and J Burns at 2136. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    116 West 17th Avenue

    Riley Park, 1940

    • Mrs Annie Picken, a saleswoman at the BC Electric Railway 1940
    • Thomas W Picken, a porter at the CPR 1940

    Next door in 1940: M R Baggs at 102 and K McKenzie at 122. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    2057 West 4th Avenue

    Kitsilano, 1940

    • J Picken, a carpenter 1940

    Next door in 1940: Sht Mtl Ace at 2043 and Winnipeg Cleaners & Dyers at 2059. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for three of the four: a carpenter, a porter and a saleswoman.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Kitsilano (2) and Riley Park. 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 W F Picken at 2126 West 15th Avenue. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists William F Picken there as the householder. The 1940 name section lists Mrs Annie Picken at 116 West 17th Avenue, a saleswoman at the BC Electric Railway, with Thomas W Picken, a porter at the CPR.

J Picken is listed at 2057 West 4th Avenue in 1940. The 1940 name section lists John Picken there as the householder, a carpenter.

Today

116 West 17th and 2057 West 4th still have their buildings from before 1946; the City no longer lists 2126 West 15th, so that building is probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 6 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 Pickens

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Picken 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 P. Want a name removed? Tell us.