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ACCESS - THE W.V. TRANSPORTATION COMPANY A SEPARATE MUNICIPALITY Land without access is hard to move in any market, and access to Capilano West, as West Vancouver section of North Vancouver was cal led, ;W,a3 I imited. To improve it, John Lawson led a delegation to the North Vancouver Council to get it to petition the Federal Government for a wharf. Somehow the efforts were successful and the wharf was built, smack in the middle of the Lawson property at Lawson Avenue, now 17 Street. With the wharf built, Lawson, his brother-in-law W.D. Thompson, John Sinclair and Robert McPherson were quick to form the W.V. Transportation Company, and in 1909, to initiate a regular scheduled ferry service to Vancouver. At first there was only one boat, the M.V. WEST VANCOUVER, with a passenger capacity of 18 to 20, plying between the wharf and the North Vancouver ferry terminal at the foot of Columbia Street, Vancouver. That the venture was successful is indicated by the almost immediate addition of a second vessel, M.V. SEAF0AM,with a capacity of 50 passengers. People could now live in West Vancouver, especially in Hollyburn, and work in Vancouver, confident that the ferry would get them there and back. LAND SALES What was waiting for the visitor and prospective purchaser when he took himself off the ferry? A dirt road, but on its western side,a cement sidewalk running north to Keith Road. To his left, the visitor could see the Lawson home, but straight ahead, the first building was the John Lawson Real Estate Office, its open porch an invitation to stop in. The next building was the Archibald Real Estate Off ice, and across the street, 011ason"s Real Estate. Lawson was certainly not afraid of competition. At the S.E. corner of Keith Road and Lawson Avenue stood Lawson's general store, a sign on its east side announcing that all the material necessary to clear land was available. This was in 1912 when the total population of the area numbered only 700. In Hollyburn alone there were four real estate offices. With the push for growth, there was a feeling that the municipal government was too remote and not responsive enough to district needs. Inasmuch as the District of North Vancouver had split away in 1907, there was a precedent. In 1912, with no rancour, the District Municipality of West Vancouver was created, holding its first Council Meeting in April 1912. An early picture shows the tent used as the first City Hall. It stood on the block at the N.E. corner of 17 Street and Esquimau, next to the frame of the wooden hall going up beside it. Much of the municipal business was conducted else where. Early records show that much municipal business was done out of a real estate office on Homer Street, Vancouver, and the Council meetings and public meetings were held in the Presbyterian Church at the S.E. corner of 18 Street and Marine Drive - Keith Road, as were the meetings of the School Board. The wooden building that was the first real City Hall was completed in late 1912. Mr. Nelson was the first reeve and Mr. Law-son the second. But Mr. Lawson ran in 1912 for the School Board and became the first chairman. POPULATION DEVELOPMENT It is important to remember that,at incorporation, West Vancouver extended from the Capilano River to Horseshoe Bay with its population centred in little "village" pockets: Hollyburn; Dundarave; Caulfeild; Eagle Harbour; Whytecliff; Horseshoe Bay. Total population is given as 700, but on one tally, a pencilled note adds, "Summer Population". For quite a few years. West Vancouver was used as a summer resort by Vancouver people, and perhaps only one-third stayed on over the winter. The burden of supporting the municipality therefore fell on remarkably few hands, bit fortunately the few saw it as a place worth the developing. Growth was to come with the development of transportation along the coast as well as to it. LAND TRANSPORTATION Private enterprise made the first effort