Vancouver Centennial Plaque #69 – The Chain Gang Strike

Address:           200 Powell Street (no address in the file, so placed near the old police station)

Status:             Missing

“THE CHAIN GANG STRIKE

Prisoners convicted of minor offenses were used to clear land, dig ditches and repair roads. A short strike in January 1897 (against bad weather work) was halted by a “no-work no-food” edict. Use of chain gangs ended in 1905.”

Credit: Vancouver Centennial Commission, Historic Plaque Program – list and documentation plaques 50-100 (June 18, 1986). Courtesy of Vancouver Archives

Photo credit: Wikimedia