Introduction to Mount Pleasant

Mount Pleasant is a very diverse community in Vancouver. The neighbourhood stretches from Great Northern Way and 2nd Avenue, to 16th Avenue and Kingsway, and from Cambie to Clark Drive. It is an eclectic mix of new and old homes, industry, educational facilities, and artist live/work studios.

This neighbourhood has an unusual bicycle-racing oval surfaced with yellow cedar that was constructed for the 1954 British Empire Games. It was built in a huge ravine that was created by China Creek, where it crossed Broadway. It was then torn down for the construction of Vancouver Community College's King Edward Campus.

Mount Pleasant got its name from the Irish birthplace of the wife of H.V. Edmonds, who was a clerk of the municipal council in New Westminster. He was the original owner of much of the Mount Pleasant area. Robson Park at 15th Avenue and Kingsway, is named after BCs 9th Premier, John Robson. A creek called Brewery Creek used to run into False Creek just north of 1st Avenue to Clark Drive. Hop plants can be still found growing near the sites of neighbourhood's old breweries.

History & Heritage

Mount Pleasant was expected to be the fashionable center or the "uptown" of all of Vancouver. By 1904, it had train station, four breweries, 2 slaughterhouses and a tannery. Mount Pleasant got its name from H.V. Edmonds, who was a clerk of the municipal council in New Westminster. He owned most of the land high above False Creek and named the area "Mount Pleasant" after the Irish birthplace of his wife.

By 1912, Mount Pleasant had expanded industrially and the population grew. Residential houses were mixed into the industrial areas. It had an elementary school where Kingsgate Mall is presently, a firehall, a first run theatre, and Vancouver's first skyscraper, the Lee Building. Mount Pleasant was also a terminus for the streetcar network. Originally, the area from Main Street to Clark Drive used to be part of False Creek waters but during World War I, it was filled in to provide land for two large railway terminals and rail yards. This destroyed Mount Pleasant waterfront and the mouth of Brewery Creek, which supplied much of the quality water supply to Mount Pleasant, was filled in.

By 1930, Mount Pleasant had a thriving community. Industrial expansion took place in the area between Main and Cambie Streets, north of Broadway. This lead to residential houses in that location to be down and its residential prestige was lost. In 1935, the land located at 12th Avenue and Cambie Street, was a park but Mayor McGeer decided to build a new city hall there. He felt this location would re-connect Mount Pleasant to the rest of the city. During the 1950s and 1960s, Mount Pleasant had many industrial buildings, warehouses and offices. Much of the houses within the industrial area were gone. Many older homes in the south and west parts of Mount Pleasant are being restored today.

Much of Mount Pleasant's heritage was houses of Victorian architecture, including elaborate Queen Anne and Edwardian type residential buildings. These houses were built in the first two decades of the 20th Century. Some historical buildings are the Heritage Hall, the former evangelistic Tabernacle and City Hall. Heritage Hall, located on Main Street and 15th Avenue, was a post office before. It is viewed as the best Beaux-arts Classicism building of Vancouver. It has a tall clock tower, steep roofs and two pilasters. The former Evangelistic Tabernacle, located at 10th avenue and Quebec Street, used to be a place for the Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church in 1909. In the 1990s, it was converted into private condominiums. City hall, built in 1936, had an architectural design that appeared in all government buildings of the 1930s such as building in Moscow. It was designed with hard-edged classicism of austere white walls and column-like shafts. Mount Pleasant was to be the uptown center of Vancouver but lost its prestige when interest began to grow in the West side.