It wasn’t long before the street car service from downtown up to Broadway and over to Main Street in 1891 prompted construction on the south side of the creek. The earliest homes were built near the southern end of the bridge at 3rd. Avenue but with the opening of the Shaughnessy development in 1907 for sales the area really took off.
To meet the needs of the emerging neighbourhood the Vancouver Fire Department constructed Fire Hall No. 4 on 10th just east of Granville. The elegant Craftsman-style building survived, with alterations, until the 1990s when it was replaced with a new building which incorporates the local public library branch along with the fire services.
The new Fire Hall No. 4 at 1475 West 10th (pictured above) opened on February 2, 1911 replacing an earlier fire hall on Broadway. (City of Vancouver Archives photo CVA 354-22)
In foreground, a 1911 Seagrave type c ac-80 hose wagon which cost $5,750 when new. At the rear is the department’s American La France type 10 hose chemical combination. (City of Vancouver Archives photo CVA 354-32)
