Vancouver a brief history

The city of Vancouver was first incorporated in 1886 and unfortunately, a fire burned it down that same year. Before 1886 the settlement was known as Granville.

Back in 1867 "Gassy" Jack Deighton was the first to settle on the site from which Vancouver was to evolve. He built a tavern at the foot of Gore street by Stamps Landing and called it the Globe Saloon.

In 1914 a Japanese Steamship, Komagata Maru was not allowed to disembark it's passengers on Vancouver soil. It was Canadian and US policy to not accept immigrants of Asian descent. The Komagata Maru had over 350 passengers of which were Hindus, Sikhs and Punjabi. Even though they were British subjects they were turned away.

Back then no one knew just how big Vancouver would become and how important it would be as the gateway to all the Asian Pacific Rim countries. The prejudice that was shown to the passengers of the Komagata Maru was an embarrassment and black mark on Vancouver . In the meanwhile Vancouver has indeed become an international, multicultural city encompassing all people groups.

In 1986 as Vancouver celebrated it's centennial it also hosted Expo '86.
The theme of this exposition was Transportation and Communication. Vancouver invited the world and the world came. Over 22 million people visited the Expo '86 site over a 6 month period. The success of this exposition put Vancouver on the map and has drawn international interest and investors ever since.