VANCOUVER 



6032 



VANCOUVER ISLAND 



portant items of industr d<o refmeil 



sugar. In and near Vancouver are a lav. 

 of the British Columbia fisheries, the principal 

 catch being herring, salmon and halibut. 



The city has many interesting features, fore- 

 most of which is Stanley Park, comprising 

 about 900 acres, much of it covered with virgin 

 Kndish Park lies on the outskirts of the 

 city. There are many tine structures, including 

 the Canadian Bank of Commerce, the Bank of 

 Montreal and the Merchants Bank among the 

 office buildings, and the customhouse, general 

 hospital, public library and courthouse among 

 public buildings. The University of British 

 Columbia, opened in 1915, is the leading edu- 

 cational institution of the province. 



Vancouver was named in honor of Captain 

 George Vancouver. It was laid out by officials 

 of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885, and 

 was incorporated in 1886, its population then 

 being about 600. In the same year it was prac- 

 tically wiped out by a fire, but out of the ruins 

 of the wooden shacks rose new stone and 

 brick structures, which have made Vancouver 

 one of the most substantial cities of the Do- 

 minion. Well-paved streets gradually replaced 

 dirt, roads; electric light and power, sewerage 

 and water systems and street tramways were 

 introduced one by one, until Vancouver became 

 a truly modern city. It grew rapidly from the 

 beginning, and its increasing commercial and 

 industrial importance, added to its pleasant 

 climate, made it a magnet for thousands of 

 people from all parts of the Dominion. Popu- 

 lation in 1901, 27,010; in 1911, 100,401; in 1916, 

 estimated, 140,000. \V.F.Z. 



VANCOUVER, GEORGE (1758-1798), an Eng- 

 lish explorer, for whom Vancouver Island was 

 named. He served with Captain Cook on his 

 second and third voyages, and in 1791 was sent 

 to Nootka Sound, by way of the Cape of Good 

 Hope, to receive formal transfer of land over 

 which Great Britain and Spain had been dis- 

 puting. On the way he surveyed and made 

 maps of a part of the New Zealand coast. In 

 1702 he passed through the Strait of Juan 

 de Fuca, discovered the Gulf of Georgia and 

 first circumnavigated Vancouver Island. Dur- 

 ing the next three years his explorations of the 

 Pacific coast extended from 36 to 56 north 

 latitude. He finally reached England again, by 

 way of Cape Horn, in October, 1795. The rec- 

 ord of these years, entitled A Voyage of Dis- 

 covery to the North Pacific Ocean and Round 

 the World in the Years 1790-95, are valuable 

 historical sources. 



VANCOUVER, WASH., the county scat of 

 Clarke County, is in the extreme southwest em 

 part of the State, 125 miles south of Olympia, 

 the state capital, and opposite Portland, Ore., 

 on the Columbia River. It is served by the 

 Northern Pacific and the Oregon-Washington 

 Railroad & Navigation Company and by lesser 

 railroad and boat lines. Between Vancouver 

 and Portland is a splendid, double-track strd 

 bridge. The population of the city was 9,300 

 in 1910, and 12,770 in 1916 (Federal estimate). 

 Vancouver Barracks, located here, is one of the 

 army posts of the United States. The city has 

 also Providence Academy, the state schools for 

 the deaf and blind, Saint Joseph's Hospital, a 

 Carnegie Library and a $100,000 high school 

 building. In the business section is Central 

 Park. Lumbering, farming, fruit raising and 

 dairying are the supporting industries of this 

 section, and the city has packing plants, rail- 

 road shops, a creamery and novelty works. 

 The Hudson's Bay Company founded Van- 

 couver in 1828. It was incorporated as a town 

 in 1858 and became a city -in 1890. H.R.P. 



VANCOUVER ISLAND, the largest island on 

 the west coast of North America. Although its 

 southern end extends below the forty-ninth 

 parallel, which is the international boundary on 

 the mainland, the whole island belongs 'to 

 Canada and constitutes an important part of 

 the province of British Columbia. In fact, the 

 first settlement within the boundaries of the 

 present province was made on Vancouver Is- 

 land. The island is about 285 miles long, and 

 from forty to eighty miles wide, its axis being 

 parallel to the shore of the mainland. Its area 

 is 15,937 square miles. Separating Vancouver 

 Island from the mainland on the north and 

 east are Queen Charlotte Sound and the Strait 

 of Georgia, both studded with smaller islands. 

 On the south lies the Strait of Juan de Fuca, 

 which is the lane by which steamers reach Van- 

 couver, Victoria and ports on Puget Sound. 



Physical Features and Climate. Vancouver 

 I>land is the southern end of a partially sub- 

 merged mountain chain usually called the Is- 

 land, or Vancouver, Range. The summits- of 

 this range rise sharply from the waters of the 

 Pacific Ocean; the Victoria Peaks, 7,484 feet 

 above sea level, rise in latitude 50 4' north, 

 and are the highest point on the island. Dan- 

 gerous reefs and rocky islets border the western 

 shore, which is penetrated by many winding, 

 fiordlike bays. Quatsino, Nootka and Barkley 

 sounds cut into the very heart of the island. 

 The eastern shore is less rugged and broken, 



