Unique Bits of History

Vancouver supposedly has an extensive network of secret tunnels running under a large portion of the city – many of them go through Chinatown, where work crews occasionally dig one up. There is one running from the Canada Post, where employees supposedly used it for a Halloween party one year. There is a set of horns that plays the nation’s anthem, O Canada, every day at noon. The horns have been playing for twenty five years, and have been relocated several times. Listen up at noon and you’ll hear them, although they are now located on top of the luxury Pan Pacific Vancouver Hotel.

During the 1950s, Vancouver housed the largest neon company in the entire world, and had more neon around than almost any other city (being second only to Shanghai). There were over eighteen thousand neon signs, or one for every nineteen residents. It was considered by many pilots to be the best lit city and the largest illumination was the BowMac sign on Broadway. There are still some of the old signs surviving today, such as the Ovaltine Café, Save on Meats, Only Seafood Restaurant, and 2400 Court Motel.

For those who are interested, the city is home to a single floating service station. There were originally several, but the floating Chevron in Coal Harbor is now the only remaining one. It frequently services boats and the occasional pontoon plane, as it is only accessible by boat. There is a giant brick building on the corner of Powell and Columbia, which is not only the oldest brick building in the city, but also the occasional home of rock and roll stars. It was built in 1886 as a grocery, but when a fire destroyed almost the entire neighborhood became the city’s first city hall. It survived more fires and was eventually abandoned, but was bought for one million dollars by singer Bryan Adams in 1991, who now uses it as a recording studio.