Walkabout: Vancouver in the rough
Christine G. Louie, Associate Staff Contributor
Sins of the City walking tours offered every Tuesday, 10 - 12 p.m., and Saturday, 4 - 6 p.m. For more information call the Vancouver Police museum at 604-665-3346, or visit their website at www.vancouverpolice museum.ca
SEX! MURDER! GAMBLING! Though present-day Vancouver may appear to be a polite, gentile Canadian city, after spending an afternoon on a Sins of the City tour, one may have reason to think differently. “Beautiful BC” would be more aptly referred to as “Boozy BC”, at least in the early 1800’s. And though UBC’s frat boys might pride themselves with the fact that early Vancouver was a pioneer in extreme debauchery, SFU’s mature and worldly students would be more interested in learning why and how Vancouver attracted and maintained a concentrated group of individuals intensely involved in extreme deviancy. The Sins of the City tour, offered by The Vancouver Police Centennial Museum, provides tours around historic Gastown to answer questions of this nature. The guided excursion traces the historical origins of Vancouver’s more notorious trades, namely the early sex trade, narcotic use, alcohol abuse, and gambling.
The museum houses a surprising amount of diverse paraphernalia from Vancouver’s oldest known murder cases, (one involving BC’s very own legendary White Spot) and a selection of artifacts ranging from rare weapons to samples of early forensic work. One section is dedicated to explaining the different types of counterfeit methods and technology. Another section is filled with mannequins in full police uniform, old school police cars, motorcycles, and a jail cell – a great spot for a photo shoot. The morgue room is the highlight of the visit – Chris Matheson, the museum’s programmer, kindly obliged to please one of his overly zealous audience member’s request by pulling the morgue drawer out for further inspection. When the same viewer asked if they could jump into the drawer to see what it would feel like to lay on the metal tray, Matheson hesitated. Fortunately for Matheson, a friend of the requester managed to restrain the lady’s morbid curiosity by expressing her disapproval over the inappropriateness of the request. Next door, the “autopsy room” is almost as engrossing, equipped with a real steel operating table and surrounded by authentic samples of CSI-like material, all of which was kindly provided by the Coroner’s Service.
The guided walking tour was also led by Matheson, and took a particular interest in the history of the surrounding buildings, many of which, according to Matheson, are neglected by the general public due to the high crime density in the area. Interesting facts about the old Woodward’s building, including background information on the detrimental effects of the closing of Woodward’s in the ‘90s were discussed in detail. Matheson also addressed issues such as strained racial relations due to labour tension, race riots involving Chinese and Japanese immigrants, prohibition, and the evolution of Canada’s first narcotic legislation. Matheson discussed the instigating factors in the formation of Downtown Eastside, noting that many of the early workers who were seriously hurt and left in Downtown Vancouver were unable to work due to the severity of the injuries. The area slowly collected a number of individuals stuck in what is now known as the Downtown Eastside, unfit to work and left to their own devices. Matheson added that the phrase “Skid Row” was derived from a road from which lumbermen would skid logs down on their way to the mill in Seattle. Matheson noted that enterprising businessmen would set up shops on either side of skid road to cater to the needs of mill workers. The tour was speckled with stories on Gastown’s more colourful characters: Gassy Jack, Detectives Sinclair and Ricci – Vancouver’s first female police officers, the early missionaries , and Gastown’s well-known madams.
On Saturday’s tour, a friendly resident of the area overheard part of Matheson’s talk on Vancouver’s early brothels and generously offered Matheson two pages of graphic, pornographic material as a visual aid to illuminate the lecture. The male local stated, “Here, show this. This is what I use.” Though the tour group did not need any visual props to understand the nature of brothels, the act was well intentioned and added flavour to the tour.
The most fascinating part of the tour was the walk down Blood Alley. There was something inexplicably startling about the lone lane of pavement, trapped behind two rows of old buildings. Walking past gorgeous trees along the alley, among the rubble and neglect, the street offers a unique, strangely beautiful view of the city. Blood Alley, right by the site of Vancouver’s first jail, is considered by the Vancouver Paranormal Society to be one of the most haunted lanes in Vancouver.