![Burrard-Inlet-map-en 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Burrard-Inlet-map-en_2.svg)
Stanley Park is a
public park
An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to re ...
in
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
that makes up the northwestern half of
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
's
Downtown
''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...
Peninsula, surrounded by waters of
Burrard Inlet
french: Baie Burrard
, image = Burrard Inlet 201807.jpg
, image_size = 250px
, alt =
, caption = Aerial view of Burrard Inlet
, image_bathymetry = Burrard-Inlet-map-en.svg
, alt_bathymetry ...
and
English Bay. The park borders the
neighbourhoods
A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; American and British English spelling differences, see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community ...
of
West End and
Coal Harbour
Coal Harbour is the name for a section of Burrard Inlet lying between Vancouver's Downtown Peninsula and the Brockton Point of Stanley Park. It has also now become the name of the neighbourhood adjacent to its southern shoreline.
Neighbourhoo ...
to its southeast, and is connected to the
North Shore via the
Lions Gate Bridge
The Lions Gate Bridge, opened in 1938 and officially known as the First Narrows Bridge, is a suspension bridge that crosses the first narrows of Burrard Inlet and connects the City of Vancouver, British Columbia, to the North Shore municipal ...
.
The historic lighthouse on
Brockton Point
Brockton Point is a headland off the Downtown Peninsula of Vancouver, on the north side of Coal Harbour. Named after Francis Brockton, it is the most easterly part of Stanley Park and is home to a 100-year-old lighthouse and several hand-carved ...
marks the park's easternmost point. While it is not the largest of its kind, Stanley Park is about one-fifth larger than New York City's
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
and almost half the size of London's
Richmond Park
Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of Royal Parks of London, London's Royal Parks, and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I of England, C ...
.
Stanley Park has a long history. The land was originally used by
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
for thousands of years before British Columbia was colonized by the British during the 1858
Fraser Canyon Gold Rush
The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, (also Fraser Gold Rush and Fraser River Gold Rush) began in 1858 after gold was discovered on the Thompson River in British Columbia at its confluence with the Nicoamen River a few miles upstream from the Thompson's c ...
and was one of the first areas to be explored in the city. For many years after colonization, the future park with its abundant resources would also be home to non-Indigenous
settler
A settler is a person who has human migration, migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area.
A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a ...
s. The land was later turned into Vancouver's first park when the city incorporated in 1886. It was named after
Lord Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, a British politician who had recently been appointed
Governor General
Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
. It was originally known as Coal Peninsula and was set aside for military fortifications to guard the entrance to Vancouver harbour. In 1886 Vancouver city council successfully sought a lease of the park which was granted for $1 per year. In September 1888 Lord Stanley opened the park in his name.
Unlike other large
urban park
An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to resi ...
s, Stanley Park is not the creation of a
landscape architect
A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manageme ...
, but rather the evolution of a forest and urban space over many years. Most of the manmade structures present in the park were built between 1911 and 1937 under the influence of then superintendent W.S. Rawlings. Additional attractions, such as a polar bear exhibit, aquarium, and a
miniature train, were added in the post-war period.
Much of the park remains as densely forested as it was in the late 1800s, with about a half million trees, some of which stand as tall as and are hundreds of years old. Thousands of trees were lost (and many replanted) after three major windstorms that took place in the past 100 years, the last in 2006.
Significant effort was put into constructing the near-century-old
Vancouver Seawall, which can draw thousands of people to the park in the summer. The park also features forest trails, beaches, lakes, children's play areas, and the
Vancouver Aquarium
The Vancouver Aquarium is a public aquarium located in Stanley Park in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In addition to being a major tourist attraction for Vancouver, the aquarium is a centre for marine research, ocean literacy education, cl ...
, among many other attractions. On June 18, 2014, Stanley Park was named "top park in the entire world" by
Tripadvisor, based on reviews submitted.
History
Coast Salish Land
![Siwash sillouette](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Siwash_sillouette.jpg)
Archaeological evidence suggests a human presence in the park dating back more than 3,000 years.
The area is the traditional territory of multiple
coastal indigenous peoples. From the
Burrard Inlet
french: Baie Burrard
, image = Burrard Inlet 201807.jpg
, image_size = 250px
, alt =
, caption = Aerial view of Burrard Inlet
, image_bathymetry = Burrard-Inlet-map-en.svg
, alt_bathymetry ...
and
Howe Sound
Howe Sound (french: Baie (de /d')Howe, squ, Átl'ka7tsem, Nexwnéwu7ts, Txwnéwu7ts) is a roughly triangular sound, that joins a network of fjords situated immediately northwest of Vancouver, British Columbia. It was designated as a UNESCO Biosph ...
regions,
Squamish Nation
The Squamish Nation, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw () in Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Sníchim (Squamish language), is an Indian Act government originally imposed on the Squamish (''Sḵwx̱wú7mesh'') by the Federal Government of Canada in the late 19th cen ...
had a large village in the park. From the lower
Fraser River
The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of Vancouver. The river's annual d ...
area,
Musqueam Nation
The Musqueam Indian Band ( ; hur, xʷməθkʷəy̓əm ) is a First Nations band government in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is the only First Nations band whose reserve community lies within the boundaries of the City of Vanco ...
used its natural resources.
Where Lumberman's Arch is now, there once was a large village called Whoi Whoi, or Xwayxway, roughly meaning ''place of masks''.
One
longhouse
A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building for communal dwelling. It has been built in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America.
Many were built from timber and often rep ...
, built from cedar poles and slabs, was measured at long by wide.
These houses were occupied by large extended families living in different quadrants of the house. The larger houses were used for ceremonial
potlatches where a host would invite guests to witness and participate in ceremonies and the giving away of property.
Another settlement was further west along the same shore.
This place was called Chaythoos, meaning ''high bank''.
The site of Chaythoos is noted on a brass plaque placed on the lowlands east of Prospect Point commemorating the park's centennial.
Both sites were occupied in 1888, when some residents were forcefully removed to allow a road to be constructed around the park, and their
midden
A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofact ...
was used for construction material.
The popular landmark
Siwash Rock, located near present-day Third Beach, was once called Slahkayulsh meaning ''he is standing up''.
In the
oral history
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...
, a fisherman was transformed into this rock by three powerful brothers as punishment for his immorality.
In 2010, the chief of the Squamish Nation proposed renaming Stanley Park as Xwayxway Park after the large village once located in the area.
European exploration
![HMS Discovery 1789 Vancouver](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/HMS_Discovery_1789_Vancouver.jpg)
The first European explorations of the
peninsula
A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...
occurred with Spanish Captain
José María Narváez
José María Narváez (1768 – August 4, 1840) was a Spanish naval officer, explorer, and navigator notable for his work in the Gulf Islands and Lower Mainland of present-day British Columbia. In 1791, as commander of the schooner '' Santa ...
(1791) and British Captain
George Vancouver
Captain George Vancouver (22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a British Royal Navy officer best known for his 1791–1795 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of what a ...
(1792).
In ''A Voyage of Discovery'', Vancouver describes the area as “an island ... with a smaller island
Deadman's Island (the correct name being Deadman Island) lying before it,” suggesting that it was originally surrounded by water, at least at high tide.
Captain Vancouver also wrote about meeting the people living there:
According to historians, the natives probably first saw Captain Vancouver's ship from Chaythoos, a location in the future park that in today's terms lay just east of the
Lions Gate Bridge
The Lions Gate Bridge, opened in 1938 and officially known as the First Narrows Bridge, is a suspension bridge that crosses the first narrows of Burrard Inlet and connects the City of Vancouver, British Columbia, to the North Shore municipal ...
(or First Narrows Bridge as it is sometimes called). Speaking about this event later in a conversation with archivist
Major Matthews,
Andy Paull
Andy Paull, (Andrew Paull, Xwechtáal, Xwupúkinem, Quitchtaal) (February 6, 1892 – July 28, 1959) was a Squamish leader, activist, coach, and lawyer.
Early life and family
Born to Dan Paull and Theresa Paull (née Lacket-Joe) of a prominent fa ...
, whose family lived in the area, confirms the account given by Captain Vancouver:
No significant contact with inhabitants in the area was recorded for decades, until around the time of the
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...
(1853–56).
British admirals
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
arranged with Chief
Joe Capilano
Joe Capilano (c. 1854–1910), also known as Capiano Joe, was a leader of the Squamish from 1895-1910, who called him ''Sa7plek'' (Sahp-luk). He fought for the recognition of native rights and lifestyle.
He spent his youth fishing and hunting a ...
that if there was an invasion, the British would defend the south shore of Burrard Inlet and the Squamish would defend the north.
The British gave him and his men 60
musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually d ...
s. Although the attack anticipated by the British never came, the guns were used by the Squamish to repel an attack by an indigenous raid from the
Euclataws. Stanley Park was not attacked, but this was when it started to be thought of as a strategic military position.
Early uses of park land
![Indian dugout canoe on Burrard Inlet](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Indian_dugout_canoe_on_Burrard_Inlet.jpg)
The peninsula was a popular place for gathering traditional food and materials in the 1800s, but it started to see even more activity after the
Fraser Canyon Gold Rush
The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, (also Fraser Gold Rush and Fraser River Gold Rush) began in 1858 after gold was discovered on the Thompson River in British Columbia at its confluence with the Nicoamen River a few miles upstream from the Thompson's c ...
in 1858, going through a succession of uses when non-Indigenous
settlers
A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area.
A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer.
Settle ...
moved into the area.
The shallow waters around the First Narrows and
Coal Harbour
Coal Harbour is the name for a section of Burrard Inlet lying between Vancouver's Downtown Peninsula and the Brockton Point of Stanley Park. It has also now become the name of the neighbourhood adjacent to its southern shoreline.
Neighbourhoo ...
were popular fishing spots for clams, salmon, and other fish.
August Jack Khatsahlano
August Jack (Khatsahlano, X̱ats'alanexw) (July 16, 1877 – June 5, 1971) was an Indigenous/ Aboriginal chief of the Squamish people. He was born in the village of Xwayxway on the peninsula that is now Stanley Park, Vancouver, or at ''Chaythoo ...
, a celebrated dual chief of the Squamish and Musqueam who once lived at Chaythoos, remembered how he used to fish-rake in Coal Harbour and catch many
herring
Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae.
Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, i ...
s.
They would also hunt grouse, ducks, and deer on the peninsula.
Second Beach was a source of "clay ... which, when rolled into loaves, as (my people) did it, and heated or roasted before a fire, turned into a white like chalk" that was used to make wool blankets.
Indigenous inhabitants also cut down large cedar trees in the area for a variety of traditional purposes, such as making
dugout canoes
A dugout canoe or simply dugout is a boat made from a hollowed tree. Other names for this type of boat are logboat and monoxylon. ''Monoxylon'' (''μονόξυλον'') (pl: ''monoxyla'') is Greek – ''mono-'' (single) + '' ξύλον xylon'' (t ...
.
![Canoes and a boathouse at Brockton Point 1897](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Canoes_and_a_boathouse_at_Brockton_Point_1897.jpg)
By 1860, nonaboriginal settlers (Portuguese, Scots, and others) had started building homes on the peninsula, first at
Brockton Point
Brockton Point is a headland off the Downtown Peninsula of Vancouver, on the north side of Coal Harbour. Named after Francis Brockton, it is the most easterly part of Stanley Park and is home to a 100-year-old lighthouse and several hand-carved ...
and later on
Deadman Island
Deadman Island is one of the San Juan Islands in San Juan County, Washington, USA. The uninhabited, rocky island has a land area of . It is part of the Geese Islets, a collection of rocky islands and reefs near the southwest shore of Lopez Island. ...
. "Portuguese Joe" Silvey was the first European to settle in the future park. A Chinese settlement also grew in a cleared area at Anderson Point (near the present day
Vancouver Rowing Club
Vancouver Rowing Club (VRC) is a rowing club in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Originally formed in 1886 as the Vancouver Boating Club, the first clubhouse was built a year later. In 1890 one of the city's early athletic rivalries began whe ...
).
The peninsula was surveyed and made a military reserve in an 1863 survey completed by the
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...
. Despite the houses and cabins on the land, it was again considered a strategic point in case Americans attempted an invasion and launched an attack on
New Westminster
New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capita ...
(then the colonial capital) via Burrard Inlet.
![Notched tree stump](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Notched_tree_stump.jpg)
In 1865,
Edward Stamp
Captain Edward Stamp (5 November 1814 – 20 January 1876) was an English mariner and entrepreneur who contributed to the early economic development of British Columbia and Vancouver Island.Lamb, W. K. (2000). Stamp, Edward. ''Dictionary of Cana ...
decided that
Brockton Point
Brockton Point is a headland off the Downtown Peninsula of Vancouver, on the north side of Coal Harbour. Named after Francis Brockton, it is the most easterly part of Stanley Park and is home to a 100-year-old lighthouse and several hand-carved ...
would be an ideal site for a lumber mill. He cleared close to with the permission of colonial officials, but the site proved too impractical and he moved his operation east, eventually becoming
Hastings Mill
Hastings Mill was a sawmill on the south shore of Burrard Inlet and was the first commercial operation around which the settlement that would become Vancouver developed in British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1865 by Edward Stamp, the sawmill oper ...
. The land cleared by Stamp later became the Brockton sports fields.
The future park was selectively logged by six different companies between the 1860s and 1880s, but its military status saved the land from further development. Most of today's trails in Stanley Park got their start from the old
skid
__NOTOC__
Skid or Skids may refer to:
* Skid, a type of pallet
* Skid (aerodynamics), an outward side-slip in an aircraft turn
* Skid (automobile), an automobile handling condition where one or more tires are slipping relative to the road
* Ski ...
roads.
Near the end of the 1800s, the city's principal
reservoir
A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation.
Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...
was built in the area south of Prospect Point that is now a playing field and picnic area.
[Historical and Geographical Contexts](_blank)
Stanley Park Commemorative Integrity Statement, Parks Canada
Parks Canada (PC; french: Parcs Canada),Parks Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Parks Canada Agency (). is the agency of the Government of Canada which manages the country's 48 National Parks, th ...
. Despite the reservoir's demolition in 1948, there is still a Reservoir Trail at that location.
From the 1860s to 1880s, settlers in
Burrard Inlet
french: Baie Burrard
, image = Burrard Inlet 201807.jpg
, image_size = 250px
, alt =
, caption = Aerial view of Burrard Inlet
, image_bathymetry = Burrard-Inlet-map-en.svg
, alt_bathymetry ...
used Brockton Point, Anderson Point, and nearby Deadman Island as burial grounds. This practice stopped when the
Mountain View Cemetery opened in 1887. Deadman Island had already had a long history as a burial site. In 1865, unsuspecting newcomer
John Morton found old cedar boxes in the trees. They turned out to be coffins that had been placed there to keep the remains of important indigenous persons out of reach of wild animals.
Leasing the land
![City of Vancouver Canadian Pacific town site 1887](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/City_of_Vancouver_Canadian_Pacific_town_site_1887.jpg)
In 1886, as its first order of business, Vancouver's City Council voted to petition the
dominion government
The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-in-C ...
to lease the military reserve for use as a park. To manage their new acquisition, city council appointed a six-person park committee, which in 1890 was replaced with an elected body, the
Vancouver Park Board
The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation, commonly referred to as the Vancouver Park Board, is the elected board with exclusive possession, jurisdiction and control over public parks in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Established by sectio ...
.
In 1908, 20 years after the first lease, the federal government renewed the lease for 99 more years.
In 2006, a letter from Parks Canada stated that "the Stanley Park lease is perpetually renewable and no action is required by the Park Board in relation to the renewal."
Opening and dedication
![Buberel Lord Stanley statue](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Buberel_Lord_Stanley_statue.jpg)
On September 27, 1888, the park was officially opened (although the legal status of Deadman Island as part of the park would remain ambiguous for many years). The park was named after
Lord Stanley
Earl of Derby ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby, under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the en ...
, who had recently become Canada's sixth
governor general
Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
(and who is perhaps best known today for having donated the
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
that was later handed down to the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
).
Mayor
David Oppenheimer gave a formal speech opening the park to the public and delivering authority for its management to the park committee.
The following year, Lord Stanley became the first governor general to visit Vancouver when he officially dedicated the park. Mayor Oppenheimer led a procession of vehicles around Brockton Point along the newly completed Park Road to the clearing at
Prospect Point. An observer at the event wrote:
Eviction of pre-park residents
When Lord Stanley made his declaration, there were still a number of homes on lands he had claimed for the park. Some, who had built their homes less than twenty years earlier, would continue to live on the land for years. Most were evicted by the park board in 1931, but the last resident, Tim Cummings, lived at Brockton Point until his death in 1958.
Sarah Avison, the daughter of the first park ranger, recalled when the city evicted the Chinese settlers at Anderson Point in 1889:
Most of the dwellings at Xwayxway were reported vacant by 1899, and in 1900, two of such houses were purchased by the Park Board for $25 each and burned. One Squamish family, “Howe Sound Jack” and Sexwalia “Aunt Sally” Kulkalem, continued to live at Xwayxway until Sally died in 1923. Sally's ownership of the property surrounding her home was accepted by authorities in the 1920s, and following her death, the property was purchased from her heir, Mariah Kulkalem, for $15,500 and resold to the federal government.
Although most residents of the area were evicted by the early 20th century, the municipal government still owns a number of field homes used by the park's "live-in caretakers".
Caretakers that occupy the field homes are not charged rent by the city, although they are required to assist in park operations and provide a permanent presence for the park board.
[ In 2006, the City of Vancouver decided it would no longer replace live-in caretakers that retired or moved out from the field homes; with the city opting to convert several unoccupied field homes into artist studios.][
]
Construction of Lost Lagoon and causeway
From 1913 to 1916, a lake was constructed in a shallow part of Coal Harbour
Coal Harbour is the name for a section of Burrard Inlet lying between Vancouver's Downtown Peninsula and the Brockton Point of Stanley Park. It has also now become the name of the neighbourhood adjacent to its southern shoreline.
Neighbourhoo ...
, a project that was not without its detractors. The lake was named Lost Lagoon due to its history of ‘disappearing’ at low tide. The lake and a causeway
A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tra ...
into the park were designed by Thomas Mawson
Thomas Hayton Mawson (5 May 1861 – 14 November 1933), known as T. H. Mawson, was a British garden designer, landscape architect, and town planner.
Personal life
Mawson was born in Nether Wyresdale, Lancashire, and left school at age 12. ...
, who also designed a lighthouse for Brockton Point
Brockton Point is a headland off the Downtown Peninsula of Vancouver, on the north side of Coal Harbour. Named after Francis Brockton, it is the most easterly part of Stanley Park and is home to a 100-year-old lighthouse and several hand-carved ...
around the same time. Before the Causeway, a wooden footbridge
A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...
provided the only access route into the park from Coal Harbour. Construction of the causeway (and new roads within the park for emergency access) was completed by 1926.
In 1923, the saltwater pipes entering the lake from Coal Harbour were shut off, turning it into a freshwater lake. A lit fountain was later erected to commemorate the city's golden jubilee
A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations.
Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali ''"সু ...
. The fountain, installed in 1936, was purchased from Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, a leftover from its world's fair in 1934.
The causeway was widened and extended through the center of the park in the 1930s with the construction of the Lions Gate Bridge
The Lions Gate Bridge, opened in 1938 and officially known as the First Narrows Bridge, is a suspension bridge that crosses the first narrows of Burrard Inlet and connects the City of Vancouver, British Columbia, to the North Shore municipal ...
, which connects downtown to the North Shore. At the same time, two pedestrian subways were added under the Causeway at the entrance to the park from Georgia Street.
By the 1950s, visitors could take rented rowboats on Lost Lagoon, but boating and other activities were banned in 1973 as the lake became a bird sanctuary. By 1995, the old boathouse had been turned into the Lost Lagoon Nature House. It is operated by the Stanley Park Ecology Society, which is a nonprofit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
that works alongside of the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation
The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation, commonly referred to as the Vancouver Park Board, is the elected board with exclusive possession, jurisdiction and control over public parks in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Established by secti ...
to promote stewardship
Stewardship is an ethical value that embodies the responsible planning and management of resources. The concepts of stewardship can be applied to the environment and nature, economics, health, property, information, theology, cultural resources e ...
and conservation
Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws.
Conservation may also refer to:
Environment and natural resources
* Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...
in Stanley Park.
Seawall
Construction of the seawall
A seawall (or sea wall) is a form of coastal defense constructed where the sea, and associated coastal processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a seawall is to protect areas of human habitation, conservation ...
and walkway around the park began in 1917 and took several decades to complete. The original idea for the seawall is attributed to park board superintendent, W. S. Rawlings, who conveyed his vision in 1918: James "Jimmy" Cunningham, a master mason, dedicated 32 years of his life to the construction of the seawall from 1931 until his retirement in 1963. Cunningham continued to return to monitor the wall's progress until his death at 85.
The walkway has been extended several times and is currently from end to end, making it the world's longest uninterrupted waterfront walkway. The Stanley Park portion is just under half of the entire length, which starts at Canada Place
Canada Place is a building situated on the Burrard Inlet in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is home to the Vancouver Convention Centre, the Pan Pacific Vancouver Hotel, the Vancouver World Trade Centre, and the virtual flight ride FlyOve ...
in the downtown core, runs around Stanley Park, along English Bay, around False Creek
False Creek (french: Faux ruisseau) is a short narrow inlet in the heart of Vancouver, separating the Downtown and West End neighbourhoods from the rest of the city. It is one of the four main bodies of water bordering Vancouver, along with Eng ...
, and finally to Kitsilano Beach
Kitsilano Beach is one of the most popular beaches in Vancouver, especially in the warm summer months. Located at the north edge of the Kitsilano neighbourhood, the beach faces out onto English Bay.
Description
The beach is home to the longes ...
. From there, a trail continues 600 metres to the west, connecting to an additional of beaches and pathways which terminate at the mouth of the Fraser River
The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of Vancouver. The river's annual d ...
.
Swimming pools
By 1932, there were two seaside, saltwater pools in the park, one at Second Beach and one at Lumberman's Arch. These "draw and fill" pools used sun-warmed water from the ocean. Once a week the pool gates were opened at low tide to release the water back into the ocean, before the next high tide of clean water.
For many years, children could take swimming lessons for free at Lumberman's Arch under the ''Vancouver Sun
The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...
's'' Learn to Swim program. The pool was filled in after developing persistent problems and replaced with the current water spray park in 1987. The spray park, the largest of its kind in Vancouver, consists of a series of water geysers, showers, and cannons.
In 1995, after more than 60 years of operation, the Second Beach pool was shut down because it failed to meet new health standards. By 1996, it had been replaced with the current heated pool.
At both locations, remnants of the old pool's semicircle shaped outer wall can still be seen.
In wartime
:''See
In World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, a gun battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to facil ...
(without a bunker
A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. ...
) was placed at Siwash Point (above Siwash Rock) to protect the city from possible attacks from German merchant raiders. It was removed just prior to the end of the war in 1918.
In 1936, when the Empire of Japan
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...
began large-scale military repression in northeast China, the perceived Japanese threat resulted in fortifications being erected in Stanley Park, among other areas. In Stanley Park, a watch tower was built on the cliff directly above Siwash Rock and remains intact as an observation deck that is accessed from the trails above.
By 1940, a gun battery and bunker had been built at Ferguson Point, just east of Third Beach. The military also expanded its use of the park by closing the area around Ferguson Point and Third Beach, where it had established barracks for the battery detachment and was providing training. What is now the Teahouse restaurant was originally built as an officers' mess
The mess (also called a mess deck aboard ships) is a designated area where military personnel socialize, eat and (in some cases) live. The term is also used to indicate the groups of military personnel who belong to separate messes, such as the o ...
. The bunker was buried and battery removed around the end of the war.
The army built several other coastal defence forts for the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, as shown in the illustration at right, most notably at Tower Beach in Point Grey
Point Grey ( Squamish: Elḵsn) is a headland marking the southern entrance to English Bay and Burrard Inlet. The headland is the site of Wreck Beach, Tower Beach, Point Grey Beach and most notably, since 1925, on its top is the Point Grey Camp ...
. In addition, an examination area was set up where any ships requesting entrance to the harbour had to stop and submit to an inspection.
Zoo and Children's Farmyard
From the very beginning, the park kept and exhibited animals after the first park ranger, Henry Avison, captured an orphaned black bear
Black bear or Blackbear may refer to:
Animals
* American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species
* Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species
Music
* Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...
cub and chained it to a stump for safety in 1888. By 1905 several animals had been donated: a monkey
Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...
, a large seal
Seal may refer to any of the following:
Common uses
* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly:
** Earless seal, or "true seal"
** Fur seal
* Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...
, four grass parakeet
A parakeet is any one of many small to medium-sized species of parrot, in multiple genera, that generally has long tail feathers.
Etymology and naming
The name ''parakeet'' is derived from the French wor''perroquet'' which is reflected in ...
s, a raccoon
The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of ...
, a canary
Canary originally referred to the island of Gran Canaria on the west coast of Africa, and the group of surrounding islands (the Canary Islands). It may also refer to:
Animals Birds
* Canaries, birds in the genera ''Serinus'' and ''Crithagra'' i ...
, and a black bear
Black bear or Blackbear may refer to:
Animals
* American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species
* Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species
Music
* Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...
. Avison was subsequently named city pound keeper, and his collection of animals formed the basis for the original zoo, which eventually housed over 50 animals, including snake
Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...
s, wolves
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...
, emu
The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus '' Dromaius''. The emu ...
s, bison
Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised.
Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North Ame ...
, kangaroo
Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...
s, monkey
Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...
s, and Humboldt penguin
The Humboldt penguin (''Spheniscus humboldti'') is a medium-sized penguin. It resides in South America, its range mainly contains most of coastal Peru. Its nearest relatives are the African penguin, the Magellanic penguin and the Galápagos pen ...
s.
By the 1970s, the zoo with its new polar bear
The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...
exhibit, built in 1962, had become the park's main attraction. Today the only remnant of the old zoo is a large concrete grotto where the polar bears had entertained crowds for many years until the 1990s. In 1994, when plans were developed to upgrade the zoo, Vancouver voters instead decided to phase it out when the question was posed in a referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
. The zoo was shut down in 1996 and the animals were either moved to the petting zoo area, the Greater Vancouver Zoo in Aldergrove, or to other facilities.
The Stanley Park Zoo closed completely in December 1997 after the last remaining animal, a polar bear named Tuk, died at age 36. He had remained after the other animals had left because of his old age. The polar bear grotto, often criticised by animal rights
Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...
activists, was to be converted into a demonstration salmon spawning hatchery
A hatchery is a facility where eggs are hatched under artificial conditions, especially those of fish, poultry or even turtles. It may be used for ex-situ conservation purposes, i.e. to breed rare or endangered species under controlled cond ...
.
The Stanley Park Children's Farmyard (petting zoo) opened in 1982. It was a successor to the original children's zoo that started in 1950. Domestic animals and a few reptiles and birds were kept in the Children's Farmyard until it closed in 2011.
Aquarium
The aquarium opened in 1956 due to complicated negotiations, followed by a massive expansion in 1967. It was the first facility in the world to study a killer whale (1964); its researchers discovered a new species of shrimp in the Gulf Islands (1997); and it became the first aquarium to ensure that it would never result in the capture of a wild whale or dolphin (1996). The popular children's song "Baby Beluga
''Baby Beluga'' is a children's music album by Canadian children's entertainer Raffi, released in 1980. The lead song is about a young beluga whale that swims freely. The album begins with the sounds of beluga whales communicating and includes co ...
" was inspired by one of the whales at the facility.
In 2006, the park board approved an $80million expansion of the facility, following considerable public debate and despite a vocal opposition concerned about animal rights and the loss of park trees required by the expansion.
1960s counterculture
By the 1960s, the neighbourhood around Stanley Park was similar to present day Commercial Drive
Commercial Drive is a roadway in the city of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada that extends from Powell Street at its northern extremity, near the waterfront, south through the heart of the Grandview–Woodland neighbourhood to the Victori ...
, attracting many of the city's beatnik
Beatniks were members of a social movement in the 1950s that subscribed to an anti-materialistic lifestyle.
History
In 1948, Jack Kerouac introduced the phrase "Beat Generation", generalizing from his social circle to characterize the undergr ...
s and flower children. This made Stanley Park the perfect place for ''be-in''s, a type of counterculture event inspired by the Human Be-In
The Human Be-In was an event held in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park Polo Fields on January 14, 1967. It was a prelude to San Francisco's Summer of Love, which made the Haight-Ashbury district a symbol of American counterculture a ...
started in San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
. The Stanley Park event started on Easter
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
weekend in 1967 and took place each spring until the mid-1970s, when most of the counterculture
A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...
movement had fizzled out. At its peak, thousands would assemble at Ceperley Meadows near Second Beach to listen to bands, speakers, and poets, and socialize.
Storms and loss of landmark trees
Violent windstorms have struck Stanley Park and felled many of its trees numerous times in the past. Between 1900 and 1960, nineteen separate windstorms swept through the park, causing significant damage to the forest cover. The park lost some of its oldest trees through major storms twice in the last century and then again in 2006. The first was a combination of an October windstorm in 1934 and a subsequent snowstorm the following January that felled thousands of trees, primarily between Beaver Lake and Prospect Point.
Another storm in October 1962, the remnants of Typhoon Freda The name Freda was used for nine tropical cyclones worldwide: five in the Western Pacific Ocean, four in the South Pacific Ocean, and one in the South-West Indian Ocean.
In the Western Pacific:
* Typhoon Freda (1962) – formed and remained in the ...
, cleared a virgin tract behind the children's zoo, which opened an area for a new miniature railway that replaced a smaller version built in the 1940s. In total, approximately 3,000 trees were lost in that storm.
One stand of tall trees in the centre of the park did not survive beyond the 1960s after becoming a popular tourist attraction. The “Seven Sisters” are memorialized by a plaque and young replacement trees in the same location along Lovers Walk, a forest trail that connects Beaver Lake with Second Beach. “They were so popular that people basically killed them by walking on their roots,” says historian John Atkin.
The death of the distinctive fir tree atop Siwash Rock has also been memorialized with a replacement. The original died in the dry summer of 1965, and through the persistent efforts of park staff, a replacement finally took root in 1968.
Another major windstorm ravaged the park on December 15, 2006, with winds ( Hanukkah Eve windstorm). Over 60% of the western edge was damaged; the worst part was the area around Prospect Point. In total, about 40% of the forest was affected, with an estimated 10,000 trees downed. Large sections of the seawall were also destabilized by the storm, and many areas of the park were closed to the public pending restoration. The cost of restoration has been estimated at $9million, which was covered by contributions from all three levels of government and private and corporate donations.
Two landmark trees were affected. One tree that has achieved a lot of fame is the ''National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...
'' Tree, so named because it appeared in the magazine's October 1978 issue. With a circumference of , it was once one of the more impressive big western red cedars of the park. It diminished over time, ravaged by storms, a lightning strike, and topped by park staff to a height of before being uprooted in October 2007.
The Hollow Tree was probably the most photographed park element in bygone years, an obligatory stop for locals, tourists and dignitaries alike, and a professional photographer was on hand to capture the visit for a fee. The tree was saved from road widening in 1910 through the lobbying efforts of the photographer who made his living at the tree. Automobiles and horse-drawn carriages would frequently be backed into the hollow, demonstrating the immensity of the tree for posterity. While the remaining 700- to 800-year-old stump still draws viewers and is commemorated with a plaque, it is no longer alive and has shrunk considerably over the years, from a circumference of many decades ago, to a more recent . Damaged by the December 2006 windstorm and leaning forward at a dangerous angle, on March 31, 2008, the tree was targeted by the Vancouver Park Board for removal due to potential safety hazards. However, on January 19, 2009, the Board accepted a proposal to save the tree by realigning and stabilizing it at a cost of $250,000, funded entirely by private donations.
Today
The forest continues to give the park a more natural character than most other urban parks, leading many to call it an urban oasis. It consists of primarily second and third growth and contains many tall Douglas fir
The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three va ...
, western red cedar
''Thuja plicata'' is an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to western North America. Its common name is western redcedar (western red cedar in the UK), and it is also called Pacific redcedar, giant arborvitae ...
, western hemlock
''Tsuga heterophylla'', the western hemlock or western hemlock-spruce, is a species of hemlock native to the west coast of North America, with its northwestern limit on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and its southeastern limit in northern Sonoma ...
, and Sitka spruce trees. Since 1992, the tallest trees have been topped and pruned by park staff for safety reasons.
A large variety of animals live in the park. There are 200 bird species alone, including many water bird
A water bird, alternatively waterbird or aquatic bird, is a bird that lives on or around water. In some definitions, the term ''water bird'' is especially applied to birds in freshwater ecosystems, although others make no distinction from seabi ...
s. A large great blue heron
The great blue heron (''Ardea herodias'') is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North America and Central America, as well as the Caribbean and the Galápagos ...
colony moved into the park in 2001 and has grown to now about 170 active nests. Mammals include a large raccoon
The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of ...
population, coyote
The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...
s, skunk
Skunks are mammals in the family Mephitidae. They are known for their ability to spray a liquid with a strong, unpleasant scent from their anal glands. Different species of skunk vary in appearance from black-and-white to brown, cream or ginge ...
s, beaver
Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...
s, rabbit
Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...
s descended from discarded pets, and a thriving grey squirrel
The eastern gray squirrel (''Sciurus carolinensis''), also known, particularly outside of North America, as simply the grey squirrel, is a tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus''. It is native to eastern North America, where it is the most prodi ...
population (descended from eight pairs acquired from New York's Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
in 1909). However, there is a complete absence of large mammals including deer, elk, bear, wolves, cougars, and bobcats.
There have been occasional attacks by coyotes on humans in the park, but in the nine months from December 2020, during the 2020 covid pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...
, there was a major increase in frequency; forty attacks by the estimated twelve coyotes in the park, none fatal, took place, four times more than all the attacks in the previous thirty years. No explanation had been found , not even whether the attacks were by one coyote or different animals. Several coyotes were killed, but the frequency of attacks did not decrease.
Stanley Park also has many manmade attractions. Recreational facilities are especially abundant in the park, having long coexisted, albeit uneasily, with the aesthetic and more natural park features preferred by those looking to the park as an enclave of nature in the city.
Recognition
The park was designated a National Historic Site of Canada
National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment
An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of t ...
by the federal government in 1988. It was deemed significant because the relationship between its "natural environmental and its cultural elements developed over time" and because "it epitomizes the large urban park in Canada."
Stanley Park was named the best park in the world in 2013, according to website Tripadvisor's first ever Travellers' Choice Awards. Central Park in New York took second place and Colorado's Garden of the Gods
Garden of the Gods (Arapaho: ''Ho3o’uu Niitko’usi’i'') is a public park located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States. It was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1971.
Name
The area now known as Garden of the Gods was f ...
was third place.
Attractions
The Vancouver Seawall is popular for walking
Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults o ...
, running
Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...
, cycling
Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...
, inline skating
Inline skating is a multi-disciplinary sport and can refer to a number of activities practiced using inline skates. Inline skates typically have two to five polyurethane wheels depending on the style of practice, arranged in a single line by a ...
, and even fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...
(with a licence). There are two paths, one for skaters and cyclists and the other for pedestrians. The lane for cyclists and skaters goes one-way in a counterclockwise loop. Walking the entire loop around Stanley Park takes about two hours, while biking it takes about one hour.
There are also more than of forest trails inside the park. Forest trails are patrolled by members of the Vancouver Police Department
The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) (french: Service de police de Vancouver) is the police force for the City of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several police departments within the Metro Vancouver Area and is the second ...
on horseback. The Mounted Unit's youth outreach includes offering guided tours of the stables and the ‘Collector’s Trading Card Program,’ which encourages children of all ages to approach a constable on horseback and request a card.
The narrow-gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
Stanley Park Railway, a ridable miniature railway
A ridable miniature railway (US: riding railroad or grand scale railroad) is a large scale, usually ground-level railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are often models of full-sized railway locomotives (powered by diesel or petrol ...
with different seasonal themes, is a Vancouver tradition, especially for families with young children. The original railway, started in 1947, featured a child-sized train. The current adult-sized railroad opened in 1964 in an area leveled by Typhoon Freda. The engine is a replica of the first transcontinental
Transcontinental may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* "Transcontinental", a song by the band Pedro the Lion from the album ''Achilles Heel''
* TC Transcontinental, a publishing, media and marketing company based in Canada, a subsidiary o ...
passenger train to arrive in Vancouver in the 1880s.
The windstorm of 2006 revealed traces of a long-forgotten rock garden, which had once been one of the park's star attractions and one of its largest man-made objects by area. Soon after its discovery, a section that encircles part of the Stanley Park Pavilion was restored (the garden had originally extended from Pipeline Road to Coal Harbour).
Beaver Lake is a restful space nestled among the trees. The lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
is almost completely covered with water lilies
''Water Lilies'' (or ''Nymphéas'', ) is a series of approximately 250 oil paintings by French Impressionist Claude Monet (1840–1926). The paintings depict his flower garden at his home in Giverny, and were the main focus of his artisti ...
(introduced for the Queen's Jubilee in 1938) and home to beaver
Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...
s, fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...
, and water bird
A water bird, alternatively waterbird or aquatic bird, is a bird that lives on or around water. In some definitions, the term ''water bird'' is especially applied to birds in freshwater ecosystems, although others make no distinction from seabi ...
s. As of 1997, its surface area was just short of , but the lake is slowly shrinking in size. One of Vancouver's few remaining free-flowing streams, Beaver Creek, joins Beaver Lake to the Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
and is one of two stream
A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...
s in Vancouver where salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...
still return to spawn
Spawn or spawning may refer to:
* Spawn (biology), the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise
** '' Spawn: ...
each year.
Lost Lagoon
Lost Lagoon is an artificial, captive 16.6-hectare (41 acre) body of water, west of Georgia Street, near the entrance to Stanley Park in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Surrounding the lake is a trail. The lake features a lit fountain th ...
, the captive freshwater lake near the Georgia Street entrance to the park, is a nesting ground to many bird species, such as Canada geese
The Canada goose (''Branta canadensis''), or Canadian goose, is a large wild goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the arctic and temperate regions of North America, and it is o ...
, and duck
Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...
s.
The Vancouver Aquarium
The Vancouver Aquarium is a public aquarium located in Stanley Park in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In addition to being a major tourist attraction for Vancouver, the aquarium is a centre for marine research, ocean literacy education, cl ...
is the largest in Canada and houses a collection of marine life that includes dolphin
A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (the ...
s, belugas, sea lions
Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...
, harbour seal
The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared se ...
s, and sea otter
The sea otter (''Enhydra lutris'') is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between , making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the small ...
s. In total, there are approximately 300 species of fish, 30,000 invertebrates, 56 species of amphibians and reptiles, and around 60 mammals and birds. The aquarium is also home to a 4D theatre.
The oldest manmade landmark in the park is an 1816 naval cannon
A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
located near Brockton Point
Brockton Point is a headland off the Downtown Peninsula of Vancouver, on the north side of Coal Harbour. Named after Francis Brockton, it is the most easterly part of Stanley Park and is home to a 100-year-old lighthouse and several hand-carved ...
. The 9 O'Clock Gun, as it is known today, was fired for the first time in 1898, a tradition that has continued for more than 100 years. The cannon was originally detonated with a stick of dynamite, but is now activated automatically with an electronic trigger.
Stanley Park also has playgrounds, sandy beaches, gardens, tennis courts, an 18-hole pitch and putt
Pitch and putt is an amateur sport very similar to, and derived from, golf, where the hole length is typically up to and just 2–3 clubs are typically used. The game was organised and developed in Ireland during the early 20th century, befo ...
golf course, a seaside swimming pool, a water spray park, and Brockton Oval, which is used for track sports, rugby, and cricket.
In summer, there is an outdoor theatre Malkin Bowl, which features events by Theatre Under The Stars and Live Nation
Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American global entertainment company and monopoly that was founded in 2010 following the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. The company promotes, operates, and manages ticket sales for live entertainme ...
(with their Concerts in the Park series).
Monuments
The park has a large number of monuments, including statues, plaques, and gardens. Among these are the Japanese Canadian War Memorial (a cenotaph
A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...
and two rows of Japanese cherry ''Prunus Shirotae'' trees) and statues of poet Robert Burns
Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...
, Olympic
Olympic or Olympics may refer to
Sports
Competitions
* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
* Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
runner Harry Jerome
Harry may refer to:
TV shows
* ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin
* ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons
* ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...
, and '' Girl in a Wetsuit''.
The park board has banned the erection of any further memorials to ensure that Stanley Park is kept in a more natural state (and based on the view that it is already saturated). As an exception to the ban, the park board agreed in 2006 to build a new playground at Ceperley Meadows near Second Beach honouring the victims of the Air India Flight 182
Air India Flight 182 was an Air India flight operating on the Montreal–London–Delhi–Bombay route. On 23 June 1985, it was operated using Boeing 747-237B registered ''VT-EFO''. It disintegrated in mid-air en route from Montreal to Lond ...
bombing. The federal government spent approximately $800,000 to build the memorial and playground.
Great blue herons
Stanley Park is home to one of the largest urban great blue heron
The great blue heron (''Ardea herodias'') is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North America and Central America, as well as the Caribbean and the Galápagos ...
colonies in North America, and the birds have been documented nesting in various locations in Stanley Park as far back as 1921. Great blue herons are classified as a species at risk in BC, and the Stanley Park Ecology Society has been monitoring the heronry in Stanley Park since 2004. An estimated 156 young Pacific great blue herons fledged from the colony in 2013. Since monitoring started in 2007, the highest number of great blue herons fledged in a year were 258, in 2007. The lowest number of fledges was in 2011 with just 99 of the birds fledged.
See also
* List of attractions and monuments in Stanley Park
Stanley Park in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, is one of the most popular attractions in the city for both tourists and local residents, drawing an estimated eight million visitors every year. The following is a list of its many statues, m ...
* Timeline of Vancouver history
This is a timeline of the history of Vancouver.
18th century
*1791 – José María Narváez explores the Strait of Georgia.
*1792 – Captain George Vancouver spends only one day on the site which, almost 100 years later, would bear his name. ...
References
Further reading
*
*
Fiction
*
*
External links
Official websites
Welcome to Stanley Park
– City of Vancouver website
Downloadable Maps
– City of Vancouver website
Story of Stanley Park
– City of Vancouver website
Future of Stanley Park
– City of Vancouver website
Park Ecology
- Stanley Park Ecology Society website
''Stanley Park''
(silent highlight reel made over the 1930s-50s) - City of Vancouver Archives website
''Our Outdoor Heritage''
(silent highlight reel made in 1940) - City of Vancouver Archives website
''Stanley Park Collection''
- A collection of sixty glass plate negatives from the UBC Library Digital Collections documenting Vancouver's Stanley Park in 1912
Additional information
*
''Stanley Park Invasive Plants''
- Clearing of invasive plants by independent volunteers
Interactive Map - ''Heart of the Park: Stanley Park celebrates 125 years''
- CBC website
- Miss 604 website
''On the Spot''
(short film about the Stanley Park Zoo in 1953) - National Film Board website
(2013) - Vancouver Sun article
''In the Shadows: the Darker Side of Stanley Park''
(2013) - Globe and Mail article
(2013) - Vancouver Sun article
(2013) - The Province article
comparisons of today's park with older photos
{{Authority control
1888 establishments in British Columbia
Former zoos
National Historic Sites in British Columbia
Nature centres in British Columbia
Parks in Vancouver
Rugby league stadiums in Canada
Tourist attractions in Vancouver
Zoos disestablished in 1997
Zoos disestablished in 2011