Vancouver’s 100 Centennial Plaques

[Date above is last edited. First published: May 28, 2024]

I want to acknowledge that this project is looking at sites located within the unceded and ancestral territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

I’ve always loved reading any plaque I can find – they’re a great way to get a little snapshot of history. When I started looking into these yellow ovals I’d found around town, I realized 100 plaques were installed to celebrate Vancouver’s centennial in 1986 and thought they’d make a great 100DaysProject!

My goal is to find all the centennial plaques (or at least get an idea of where they used to be), write up a little bit about the place, event or person commemorated, and draw something too. At the end of the project, I hope it’s like a little guidebook to the city’s history.

As the plaques were installed in 1986, there probably won’t be much focus on Vancouver’s diversity and different cultural experiences. Probably very few women too. It’ll be interesting to see what the Vancouver Centennial Commission chose and if there are any surprises.

Credit: Vancouver Centennial Commission, Historic Plaque Program – final list (June 18, 1986). Courtesy of Vancouver Archives

Note: The neighbourhoods are the City of Vancouver’s local planning areas from the City Social Indicators Profile 2020, plus the sub-areas from the Downtown Eastside Local Area Plan (April 2023).

Background

If you’ve ever wandered around Vancouver, you’ve probably spotted a bunch of historical plaques. The most common type is the Heritage Building sign – a bronze rectangle with a blue triangle at the top. These designate a building that has historic significance and they’re pretty formal.

You may have also seen a Places That Matter plaque – a blue oval. The PTM program was started in 2011 to celebrate 125 years since Vancouver was incorporated. These signs are much more community-minded and commemorate some of the lesser-known places, events and people that make Vancouver.

However, in between these two types, there was another plaque program – in 1986, 100 plaques were installed to celebrate 100 years – and those are the ones I’m looking for!

It's really important to acknowledge that this project is looking at sites located within the unceded and ancestral territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. People have been living in this area for 8-10,000 years.

The first non-Indigenous settlements in the area only began in the late 1800s, with the first “official” townsite surveyed in 1870. The Canadian Pacific Railway selected the town as the terminus of their transcontinental railway and Vancouver was incorporated as a city on April 6, 1886 (then promptly burnt to the ground two months later).

100 years later, Vancouver celebrated its centennial. This evolved into Expo 86 with all its huge developments, but there were also lots of little events and programs to celebrate the city’s history. And one of those was the installation of 100 plaques: