People uprooted from Marpole (20)

Marpole, originally a Musqueam village and burial site, was established by non-Indigenous settlers in 1860. Known initially as Eburne Station, the community grew rapidly from 1901 to 1911, reaching a population of approximately 1,200. In 1916, it was renamed Marpole after residents of nearby Sea Island petitioned to avoid confusion with another community named Eburne. By the time Marpole was incorporated into the City of Vancouver in 1929, it had become a thriving industrial centre supported by sawmills and canneries along the Fraser River.

As Japanese Canadians began moving out of Vancouver’s Powell Street district in the 1930s, Marpole emerged as an important residential community. By 1941, nearly sixty Japanese Canadian families lived in the neighbourhood, many clustered around Selkirk Street. Residents worked as boat builders, gardeners, farmers, labourers, shopkeepers, and dry cleaners. Author Joy Kogawa and environmentalist David Suzuki, whose family operated a laundromat on Selkirk Street, were among those who lived in Marpole.

Community life centred on the Marpole Japanese Language School and Boy Scout Hall, built in 1927. Located on Selkirk Street, the building served primarily as a Japanese Language school and had enrolled sixty-eight students by 1934. It also functioned as a gathering place for cultural, educational, and social activities.