MAPPING EARLY VANCOUVER
Burrard Inlet
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Logging along Burrard Inlet, 1868 Courtesy of BCARS:A-03391

As a major transportation link water played an important role in Vancouver's development. Timber was gold to the early settlers. Most of the early settlements in what is now Vancouver developed as company towns clustered around sawmills. Both Hastings Townsite and Moodyville began as mill settlements. (Roy 1980)

Ships in Burrard Inlet, 1872 Courtesy of BCARS:B-02768

The deep and sheltered waters of Burrard Inlet made it a perfect place to load timber onto the ships which would transport it down the coast to the growing cities in the United States.

The rugged North Shore of Burrard Inlet defied settlement for a while but even this harsh landscape is now heavily developed. (Mac Donald 1996)

Timber in Booms on Burrard Inlet, 1890 Courtesy of BCARS:F-07436

To explore more of Old Vancouver click on a community name listed below.

Moodyville - Granville townsite - Hastings townsite - West End - Burrard Inlet - False Creek

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