Coal Harbour

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the village on Vancouver Island, see Coal Harbour, British Columbia.

Coal Harbour is the name for a section of Burrard Inlet lying between Vancouver's downtown peninsula and the Brockton Peninsula of Stanley Park. It is also in recent years the name of the neighbourhood adjacent to its southern shoreline, which was redeveloped as an upscale high-rise condominium district in the 1990s.

Coal Harbour from Stanley Park with downtown Vancouver in the background

The harbour is bounded by the Financial District to the south and Stanley Park to the north. To the east is Deadman's Island, the site of the naval station/museum HMCS Discovery, where the harbour opens up to the Burrard Inlet. The discovery of coal in the harbour in 1862 inspired the name. Within the harbour is a floating gas station for marine vessels.

Coal Harbour is home to Vancouver Harbour Water Aerodrome, located a few blocks from Canada Place.

1 History
2 Neighbourhood
3 References
4 External links

[edit] History

Deadman's Island in Coal Harbour

Notable inhabitants and developments in Coal Harbour's past include:

Squamish First Nation settlements, notably on Deadman's Island and on Brockton Point
In 1862 minor exploration began of the visible coal seams on the flank of the bluff overlooking the harbour, first noted by Captain Vancouver. This bluff was approximately where most of West Hastings Street is today. The coal was low-grade, but its occurrence in clays similar to porcelain-making clays of the English Midlands led to the staking of what is known as the Brickmaker's Claim by the Three Greenhorns. The Brickmaker's Claim is now the West End. No clay was ever mined nor porcelain ever made, but one of the Greenhorns was the developer of the clay mine and brickworks at Clayburn on Sumas Mountain near Abbotsford.
A settlement of Kanakas (Hawaiians) near today's Bayshore Inn and the eastern end of Lost Lagoon was known as the Kanaka Rancherie, or the Cherry Orchard due to its many cherry trees. The area is now called Devonian Harbourside Park, and memorial cherry trees have been planted there in memory of AIDS victims.
the Vancouver Boating Club, now Vancouver Rowing Club, from 1887 (originally at the bottom of the bluff at the foot of Howe Street)
the Pacific Lumber Mill Company in the late 1800s
the Vancouver Yacht Club (their first clubhouse floated in Coal Harbour at the foot of Cardero street in 1903)
Boeing Canada's Seaplane and Boat Factory beginning in the late 1920s (they purchased the Hoffar-Beeching Shipyard at 1927 West Georgia)
the Vancouver Shipyards through the 1930s
the CP Rail Station & CP Steamships passenger terminal/dock
Harbour Ferries, a tour-boat and water-taxi service, continues to operate from docks in Coal Harbour
Howard Hughes, who resided in the top two floors of the Bayshore Inn for two years or more in the 1970s
Trader Vic's, for many years held to be Vancouver's best night-out, was launched in a tiki-style hut next to the Bayshore.
HMCS Discovery
In 1993 Vancouver City Council froze applications for development of the Marathon Realty lands between Canada Place and the Bayshore Hotel. The company was required to reach an agreement with The First Narrows Floating Co-op, representing floating home and live-aboard boat residents in pre existing marinas, for their inclusion in the redevelopment of the waterfront. Negotiations concluded with the guarantee of space for residents in Coal Harbour Marina on extended leases.^[1]

[edit] Neighbourhood

The neighbourhood is bounded to the southeast by Burrard Street, to the southwest by West Georgia and Pender Streets, and to the northwest by Stanley Park. The northwestern section features parkland, private marinas, and several rowing and boating clubs. Towards the Financial District in the southeast, and across Georgia Street, the neighbourhood is dominated by high-rise office and apartment buildings. The six floating homes in Coal Harbour, along with the twelve in False Creek are the only legal floating homes in the city of Vancouver.^{[citation needed]}