Despite the closure of Navvy Jack's modest,
by-request ferry service in 1887, after only a year's operation, the answer to West
Vancouver's transportation limitations was still to be found in the establishment of  a more permanent ferry service. In 1909, the first scheduled
ferry began running across the Burrard Inlet. The name of this service was the West
Vancouver Transportation Company, founded by John Lawson. The first ship was a
35-passenger boat called the West Vancouver No. 1, which ran between the 17th
Street dock and Columbia Street in Vancouver. Its successor, the larger Sea
Foam, ran to English Bay. The first year of operation ran up only a slight
loss, so Lawson and company decided it was feasible to run the ferries regularly
throughout the year. These ferries were directly responsible for the growth in the
Hollyburn and Dundarave areas and the development of businesses around 14th, 17th,
and 25th streets. By 1912, however, the company was suffering heavy
losses due to a drop in real estate markets. Consequently, at the time of West
Vancouver's incorporation in 1912, the new municipality took over the running of the
ferry service as a joint stock company until 1916, at which time it became a municipal
services department.Initially, the geographical region of present-day West Vancouver had been incorporated into the the Municipality of North Vancouver in 1891 as the District of West Capilano, and being a smaller district, it was not a priority of the municipal leaders at the time. As a result, the District of West Capilano was lacking in schools, water works, roads and railways -- unlike North Vancouver. Had it not been for community minded residents such as John Lawson, West Vancouver may well have remained an underdeveloped backwoods of the North Shore, at least for a much longer time. By 1912 the region's population had grown to 700, a sufficient number of people to
bring the issue of disparity to the public’s attention. This population was
large enough to bring pressure to the provincial authorities for the creation of an
autonomous municipality. One of the first issues the newly formed Municipal council
gave its attention to was a proposal by the Pacific Great Eastern (PGE) Railway to These were also the days of humanity's new mode of transportation -- the automobile. There had been an attempt to create a connecting road across the North Shore, but the project ran out of steam before completion, leaving a series of half connecting trails. During the first year of incorporation, the issue was brought before the West Vancouver Municipal Council. Because of West Vancouver's lack of roads and a growing interest in the use of the automobile, Council passed a by-law for a new east-west connector road for the North Shore. Work on Marine Drive began in 1913, and it was officially opened two years later.
|
construct a railway to connect West Vancouver with North Vancouver.
The construction began in 1913 and, by 1914, the work was completed from Lonsdale to 25th
Street at a new station in Dundarave. Shortly afterwards, construction continued on
to connect with Horseshoe Bay. Originally, the PGE’s railway line was to extend
all the way to Prince George. However, financial limitations of the company confined
the distance between Deep Cove and Horseshoe Bay. Due to its shortfalls at this
time, the PGE initials were amusingly dubbed "Prince George Eventually."
