1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Vancouver (Canada)

VANCOUVER, a city and port in the province of British Columbia, Canada, on the southern side of Burrard Inlet. Pop. (1906) about 45,000. It is the western terminus of the Canadian Pacific railway. The harbour of Vancouver is one of the finest natural harbours in the world. The city is the largest in British Columbia, and is the chief Canadian shipping port for Japan, China, Australia and the islands at which the C.P.R. mail steamers call. There are regular lines of steamers running between Vancouver and Alaska and the points of connexion with the Yukon territory, as well as lines to Puget Sound and San Francisco in the United States. The port also has regular and frequent communication by steamer with Victoria, and is the headquarters of an extensive coasting trade. In 1886, soon after its establishment, a fire swept, the whole town out of existence, but the inferior wooden buildings at first erected have been largely replaced by stone and brick structures, giving a handsome appearance to the principal streets. Vancouver has well-paved streets and is well supplied with water, electric lighting, electric cars and all the improvements of a modern City. Stanley Park, a large reserve of 900 acres, is one of the principal pleasure resorts. There is also fine sea-bathing at English Bay on the outskirts of the city. The " McGill University College of British Columbia ” at Vancouver is one of the colleges of McGill University (Montreal). There are a sugar refinery and cooperage works, as well as large sawmills, shingle factories and many other industrial concerns. A large wholesale trade is carried on with all the settlements of the province. Vancouver is the centre of the important timber industry of British Columbia.