Vancouver / Names / W / Wilson / Main Street

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

The Wilsons

In the city directories 1940 · five people at five addresses

The directories print five people named Wilson at five addresses in 1940, all on Main Street, with the close spelling Willson. 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 224 other streets too, all listed on the Wilson 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 Wilsons 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

    235 Main Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • William Wilson, an engineer 1940

    Next door in 1940: Pool Room Lion at 233 and Empress Rooms at 237. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    451 Main Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • L R Wilson, in eggs poultry 1940

    Next door in 1940: Library Annex Van Pub at 431. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    917 Main Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • Robert C Wilson, a (retired) 1940

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

  4. 4

    2333 Main Street

    Mount Pleasant, 1940

    • Reuben H Wilson, a loader at Overseas Wood Products 1940

    Next door in 1940: V J Johnson at 2331 and McCallum's Hdw Ltd at 2337. The block, door by door

  5. 5

    3869 Main Street

    Riley Park, 1940

    • H Wilson, a caretaker at Wellington Block 1940

    Next door in 1940: F O Walmsley at 3871. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for three of the five: a caretaker, an engineer and a loader.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Strathcona (2), Downtown, Mount Pleasant 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

The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists William Wilson at 235 Main Street, an engineer. L R Wilson, in eggs poultry, is listed at 451 Main Street in 1940. The 1940 name section lists Robert C Wilson at 917 Main Street, a (retired). The 1940 name section lists Reuben H Wilson at 2333 Main Street, a loader at Overseas Wood Products.

In 1940 the directory lists H Wilson at 3869 Main Street. The 1940 name section lists Henry Wilson there as the householder, a caretaker at Wellington Block.

Today

235 Main, 917 Main and 2333 Main still have their buildings from before 1946; the City no longer lists 451 Main and 3869 Main, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

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 3869 Main: no archive photo of the 3800 block is known that we can show. City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 136-513. Public domain.

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

The book of the Wilsons

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Wilson 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 W. Want a name removed? Tell us.