Vancouver Historical Society

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Penticton Art Walk: Charles Henry Rawson Exhibition

"Clay Cliffs Near Penticton, B.C." 1920, watercolour, C.H. Rawson
"Clay Cliffs Near Penticton, B.C." 1920, watercolour, C.H. Rawson

In 2021, the VHS received a package of drawings and watercolours by Charles Henry
Rawson from his descendant James Wilson of Santa Barbara, California. The package
included a list of his landscape sketches, although many of the originals had been removed, presumably by relatives.

They will be presented at an upcoming exhibition in Penticton as part of the Art Walk and Auction.

A Little but Important Engineering History

In 1887 the Capilano River was selected as the primary of Burrard Inlet into the city. Then, in 1908 a wooden fir stave pipe was constructed 11 kilometres from the mouth of the Seymour River. A second intake, 600 metres north of the first one, was built in 1913. This pipeline supplied water to residents of North Vancouver and later carried water underneath the Second Narrows Bridge to houses in Vancouver, Burnaby and Richmond. The Vancouver Historical Society was contacted by a gentleman in the State of Washington with a photo collection related to the building of the water system in North Vancouver. There were photos of gigantic wooden pipes, heavy equipment and observing wives and friends. The photos represented meaningful work, laudatory engineering and most of all progress.
Cover of 1935-1936 catalogue. Reference code AM369-S1–Catalogues of goods for sale.

2025 LECTURES

MAY
22
2025

Beneath Dark Waters, The Legacy of the Empress of Ireland Shipwreck

On May 28, 1914, the RMS Empress of Ireland began her 192nd trip across the Atlantic from Quebec City, Canada, enroute to Liverpool, England, carrying 1,056 passengers and a crew of 423. In the early hours of May 29, fog descended on the St. Lawrence River, and the ocean liner was rammed by the Storstad, a Norwegian coal ship….

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