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â- // THS CROhTH and DSVrXOrWiINt OF W?:ST VANCOUVER » Over the past seventy-five years West Vancouver has developed as a bed- room suburb of Vancouver with a population dependent upon the commerce and industry of the city for it» livelihood. There have been two distinct eras of growth in the history of West Vancouver, each spawning a transportation system linking the municipality with the City of Vancouver. The first era stretched from 1905 to 1914 and saw the development of Ambleside, fiollybum and Dunderave and the founding of a ferry system. The second era began with the infusion of British capital in 1931,- culminated in the building of the Park Royal Shopping Centre in 1950 and saw the development of The British Pacific Properties and construction of the Lions Cate Bridge. The first significant activity in West Vancouver occured in 1869 when S.P.-Koody of Burrard Inlet Lumber Mills was granted a timber licence for the west bank of the Capilano River, the arbitrary boundary between West and North Vancouver. Before this time, the area had been partially surveyed by the British Navy in 1659-1860, and prior to the survey had been investi- 2 gated by the Hudson*© Bay Company to determine the potential for furs. The Land Proclamation of Governor Douglas in 1869 allowed settlers in British Columbia to pre-empt land in 150 acre blocks. This was later in- creased to 160 acres. By 1880 there were four land holders in Vest Vancouver but with the cancellation of pre-empting privileges in 1882, due to uncer- tainty surrounding the final route of the Canadian Pacific Railway, their 3 unimproved lands reverted to the provincial government. In 1886, 1 Phyllis 3. V/alden, A Kistor’/ of Nest Vancouver. Vancouver, University of British Columbia. Unpublished M.A. Thesis, 1947, p.21< 2 I bid.. p.l6. 3 I bid., p.24* • « «.2•