Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­

Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Photos: Archival pictures show Granville and Robson over the years

Photos from 1901 to 2024 show the well-known Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­intersection over 120 years

Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­has seen massive growth since it was founded in 1886.

Compared with many other cities worldwide it's quite young; luckily that means there are photos that document the city's growth over the decades, many of which are with the City of Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­archives.

While Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­doesn't have an intersection that can definitively be named the centre of the city, the meeting of Robson and Granville has as good a case as any, with Robson's shopping and Granville's entertainment districts meeting.

It's also just a block or two away from the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­Art Gallery (which also has an argument for it, though it's not an intersection), the central library, major music venues (the Orpheum and Commodore Ballroom, among others), and a SkyTrain station.

Over the years it has been central to the growth of the city. Initially, Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­was based around Gastown, but that shifted west to what is now considered downtown Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­in the city's early days.

Major buildings were built in the area soon after the city was founded. The first Hotel Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­was built at Granville and Georgia, and the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­Opera House was built on Granville between Robson and Georgia.

Granville and Robson both continued to grow, with streetcars operating on both of them. A bridge was built at the south end of Granville into Fairview, turning it into a major route into the city for the growing suburbs, including the wealthy Shaughnessy neighbourhood.

Robson was also one of the first major streets in Vancouver; it's been a shopping destination since 1895, and now it has shops and restaurants almost its entire length from BC Place to Stanley Park.