Alexander Street is named after one of the Over-landers called Richard H. Alexander. Alexander came to Canada when he was 11 years old and was the captain of an expedition at age 18. Alexander had no money when he came to Westminster. He went to Cariboo later and worked as a mine-keeper. He also went to Victoria and worked as a longshoreman for Hudson Bay Company. Alexander then went to Vancouver (now called Granville) and worked at the Hastings Sawmill as an accountant. He became the manager of the Hastings Sawmill 12 years later. -J.Z
Gore Avenue
Gore Avenue is named after a BC surveyor-general called William S. Gore. Gore Avenue is run at an angle of relation probably because the surveyors were influenced by the skid road that was from False Creek to Burrard Inlet. -J.Z
Heatley Avenue
Heatley Avenue is named after a shareholder in the Hastings Mill called Edward D. Heatley. -J.Z
Jackson Avenue
Jackson Avenue is named after a Victoria lawyer called Robert E. Jackson. The house above is a relic of the past. -J.Z
Powell Street
Powell Street is named after Dr. Israel W. Powell. Powell was born in Upper Canada and graduated from McGill University as a doctor. He came to Victoria because of the news of the gold rush. He had large land holdings. He was a shareholder in the Vancouver Improvement Company, the Medical Council of BC’s first president, and the first superintendent of Indian Affairs for BC. -J.Z
Cordova Street
Cordova Street is named after a Spanish Viceroy of Mexico called Don Antonio Bucareli y Cordova to honour Spanish explorers. In 1871, there was a Gastown clearing from the waterfront to Hastings Mill. Nobody wanted to buy the lots so it became Cordova or Hastings Street later on. -J.Z
Princess Avenue
Princess Avenue is named after Mrs. Stephen Ramage’s nickname. Princess Street used to be part of Dupont Street. Because of the unsavory reputation between Carrall and Main Streets, the part of Dupont Street was renamed. -J.Z
Railway Street
L.A Hamilton named the street Railway Street because the street was close to the CPR. -J.Z
Dunlevy Avenue
Dunlevy Avenue is named after Peter C. Dunlevy. In Soda Creek, he owned a ranch and a hotel. In 1890, he visited Vancouver often. Dunlevy is an old street. Captain Stamp built his mill here and named the mill, the Stamp Mill. The mill is now called the historic Hastings Mill. -J.Z
Columbia Street
Columbia Street is named after British Columbia. The Edmond’s family ran out of royal names to name remaining streets. Prince Edward Street was recommended by someone because the street name also honoured a province of Canada. The Edmond’s family thought that naming the rest of the streets after provinces of Canada was a good idea. -J.Z
Main Street
Main Street used to be called Westminster Avenue, Vancouver, and South Vancouver. On December 30, 1940, the city council suggested that the Special Committee on Street Names to give thought to the proposal for Main Street to be renamed Westminster when getting the official street name map ready. The map wasn’t prepared because of the demand of the war. On March 1948, the Street Naming Committee asked the chairman to ask the canvass merchants for a suggestion about a name change at the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce. -J.Z