 Totem Pole, City of North Vancouver photo
First Nations Settlers The North Shore, located directly north of downtown Vancouver across Burrard Inlet, was originally inhabited by Aboriginal peoples: the Squamish First Nation, the Tseil-Waututh First Nation, and the Musqueam First Nation. For centuries, they hunted, fished, traded, and created striking totem poles and bentwood boxes in their traditional village sites. More recently, all three nations were included among the Four Host First Nations for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. European Arrival Captain George Vancouver became the first European to enter Burrard Inlet on June 13, 1792, travelling with his crew aboard small boats from HMS Discovery. As more European settlers flooded into the region with the mid-19th Century Fraser River Gold Rush, logging operations began on the North Shore in the 1860s.
Building a Community Pioneer Mills (later the Moodyville Sawmill Company) was set up in 1863, delivering lumber to local buyers. In the decades that followed, a post office and church were built, and electrical service and ferry service were instituted. The first incarnation of the famous Capilano Suspension Bridge was constructed in 1889.
North & West Vancouver North Vancouver was incorporated as a district in 1891, encompassing the whole North Shore from Horseshoe Bay to Deep Cove. Over time, however, new boundaries would be drawn. A year after street car service began, the city of North Vancouver was created in 1907 on the lower hillside and waterfront, and West Vancouver was incorporated separately in 1912. However, for today's visitors, such distinctions have little significance. The North Shore continued to grow, buoyed by suburban communities like Capilano, Deep Cove, Lynn Valley, and Northlands. Bridges to North Vancouver  The North Shore's ties to the urban metropolis of Vancouver were solidified with the construction of two major bridges. The Second Narrows Bridge (1925) connected East Vancouver to the North Shore, and the Lions Gate Bridge (1938), resembling San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, offered access from downtown through Stanley Park.
North Vancouver in the 20th Century North Vancouver had its ups and downs in the 20th Century. The district went bankrupt in 1932 during the Great Depression, and had to be operated by the provincial government until 1951. While the construction of Park Royal Shopping Centre (1950) and the Cleveland Dam (1954) signaled improvements, disaster struck in 1958 when the partially finished replacement for the Second Narrows Bridge collapsed, with 18 workers dying and 20 more injured. The bridge finally opened in 1960, and was renamed the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing in 1994. Ski Resorts  This area came into its own with the construction of the Upper Levels Highway (part of the Trans-Canada Highway) in the 1960s. Grouse Mountain, Cypress Mountain, and Mount Seymour exploded as popular destinations for skiing and mountain biking in the 1970s and 1980s.
North Vancouver Today An active living and tourism mecca, Vancouver's North Shore has seen plenty of glitz and glamour in recent years. Cypress Mountain was chosen as an official venue for the 2010 Olympics (free-style skiing and snowboarding).
Movies & TV Series Both in huge local movie studios and at outdoor locations, many Hollywood movies and TV series have been filmed here: The 6th Day (Arnold Schwarzenegger), The X-Files (David Duchovny), and Smallville (Jessica Alba) are some notable ones.
Celebrity Residents Music superstars like Sarah McLachlan, Bryan Adams, and Diana Krall own multi-million-dollar homes here. NHL hockey stars like Paul Kariya, Brett Hull, and Cliff Ronning learned their trade at the North Shore Winter Club. Other North Shore celebrities include Chief Dan George and figure skater Karen Magnussen. Yet the ancient spirit of North Vancouver endures in its deep mountainside forests inhabited by black bears and deer. The yellow sulphur piles on the waterfront show that North Vancouver still plays a key role in Canada's main working West Coast harbour. The marriage between urban life, industrial development, and accessible yet pristine wilderness makes this a truly distinctive community. North Vancouver Museum & Archives To learn more about North Vancouver's culture and history, visit the North Vancouver Museum and Archives (209 W. 4th St). Featuring colourful dioramas and artifacts (like replicas of the stone lions at the Lions Gate Bridge), the museum offers exhibits on topics like First Nations culture, the early logging industry, and North Vancouver landmarks that no longer exist. It's open afternoons Tuesday to Sunday.
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