Vancouver Building Permits Database Project 1901-1921
Project info
The Heritage Vancouver Society has sponsored this building permits database as a community service to assist individuals with historical research pertaining to the City of Vancouver.
Beginning in 2009, we began to prepare the data to serve as the basis for an online searchable database available to the public, aiming to launch in 2011. This entails manually comparing the originally transcribed data with the original books, ensuring the data and spelling is accurate, and subsequently filling in any missing information and/or additional data.
To date, this has involved the transcription of approx. 25,000 individual line entries/permits, with approx. 5,000-8,000 more to go, which were not transcribed during Phase 1.
Our launch for the online database was Wedneday November 23, 2011, at the Vancouver Archives. View and search the database at permits.heritagevancouver.org
Timeline
Phase 1: 1996–1998
- Transcription of hand-written permit entries (1901-1914/1918).
- Initial data made publicly available on a limited basis.
Phase 2: 2009–2011
- Refining/checking the transcribed data from Phase 1 against the original records
- Transcription of Point Grey permits 1918 to 1920
- Transcription of South Vancouver permits 1912 to 1921
- Transcription of Vancouver permits 1915 to 1919
- Building and launch of an online searchable database
Phase 3 and on: 2011–Ongoing
- Transcription of data from 1921-29, then subsequent years contingent on funding availability
Overview
The primary sources for these records are the original building permit registers stored at the City of Vancouver Archives. The registers consist of applications to construct, move or improve existing buildings. Prior to 1912, City of Vancouver descriptions of the work included whether the building was frame or brick, and the type of building (e.g., dwelling, shed, store). Each application is listed as a one-line entry, and organized according to the owner’s last name, loosely alphabetized within each year (e.g., for the year 1901, all last names beginning with ‘A’ are grouped in chronological order). Later registers are chronological, making manual searches for individual properties very difficult.
The database follows a format similar to that of the corresponding original registers. Where applicable, the database provides information on the owner, architect, builder, month and year of application, legal description (more location accurate), street number and name, building cost, permit number and remarks regarding the type of building or nature of the work.
The current database data includes building permits issued by:
- City of Vancouver:
1901 to 1904 and 1909 to 1914 (with limited information for 1905 & 1906 - see note)* - Corporation of the District of South Vancouver:
1911 to 1921 (amalgamated with Vancouver in 1929) - Corporation of Point Grey:
1912 to 1920 (amalgamated with Vancouver in 1929)
*Unfortunately the original book(s) for the years 1905 to 1908 for the City of Vancouver are missing, and have been for decades, and were never available for microfilming/copying so the data for this span is unavailable (see next paragraph).
For 1905 and 1906 data, we have transcribed basic building permit data which was published in the January 1906 and 1907 issues of The Province newspaper — the info consisting only of the applicant's name, project cost, basic description, and sometime the street name. Unfortunately no such lists were subsequently published for 1907/08, and data for these two years is missing entirely. These will be incorporated into the online database in early 2012.
In the years since the permits were issued, the names of many streets or portions of streets in Vancouver have changed. See the incredible reference book, Street Names of Vancouver, by Elizabeth Walker.
Transcription
The early permit registers are handwritten in the distinctive cursive script of the era, in varying degrees of legibility. There were also many variations in spelling. This presents a number of challenges in the transcription. Wherever possible, names that could not be deciphered were confirmed against directories or BC Vital Events.
The transcription process has undoubtedly resulted in errors in interpretation. There will be a feedback mechanism as part of the searchable database to ensure that errors can be reported and corrected on an ongoing basis.
Please note that neither the Heritage Vancouver Society nor the City of Vancouver Archives assumes responsibility for the accuracy or comprehensiveness of this database. The Heritage Vancouver Society strongly encourages users who wish to verify individual entries to consult the records located at the Archives, many of which have been microfilmed.
Interested in helping with data entry?
Manual transcription takes time, espcially when working from a handwritten source. If you're interested volunteering with data entry for this invaluable project, please let us know. You'd be working from both digital images of the actual entry pages, along with hard copies, and entereing the raw data in a basic Excel template. Please contact: patrick@heritagevancouver.org
Involvement
The Heritage Vancouver Society could not have begun this project in 1997 without the generous assistance of the B.C. Heritage Trust, the Real Estate Foundation, the Canadian Art Deco Society and the City of Vancouver Archives. In addition, Robert J.R. Faulkner offered valuable guidance, based on his experiences compiling a similar index for the City of North Vancouver. The City of Vancouver Archives staff have provided invaluable assistance throughout this project.
The original transcription work was undertaken by Leah Holman with assistance from Nancy Byrtus from 1996 to 1998.
The 2009-2012 team has been actively engaged in checking the existing data, and transcribing additional data from the original hand-written entries.
Patrick Gunn (lead)
Jim Balakshin
Kellie Ann Benz
Ian Jarvis
James Johnstone
Donald Luxton
Doug MacKay
Shane Oleksiuk
Isaac Vanderhorst