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Old photos of Vancouver

56 photographs of Vancouver, from 1900 to 2025 — each pinned to the exact place it was taken.

Vancouver Library Burrard Street in 1928 — Streetcars at Granville and Robson 1928 Vancouver Library Burrard Street in 2015 — Granville Street 02 2015
Then and now: Vancouver Library Burrard Street, 1928 vs 2015
Have an old photo of Vancouver? A family album, a postcard, a print from the attic. Pin it to the map and it becomes part of the record.
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What the photos show

The 56 photographs of Vancouver on PlaceWas span 7 decades, from 1900 to 2025. 4 of them were taken before 1980; the other 52 are recent views of the same streets and landmarks.11 spots were photographed more than once, so you can compare the same street, square or building across the years.54 of the photos carry a written caption explaining what is in the frame. Every picture is pinned to the place it was taken, so the map below shows where the photographers stood.

Pick a decade to filter the photos below and the map above. Open full map ↗

Places in Vancouver through time

Spots photographed more than once — compare the same place across the years.

Worker Bee, Vancouver — photos through time
Worker Bee 8 photos · 1900–2022
Art Gallery, Vancouver — photos through time
Art Gallery 7 photos · 2009–2018
Pacific Centre, Vancouver — photos through time
Pacific Centre 7 photos · 2012–2023
Crown Plaza, Vancouver — photos through time
Crown Plaza 7 photos · 2011–2019
Vancouver Library Burrard Street, Vancouver — photos through time
Vancouver Library Burrard Street 4 photos · 1928–2015
Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, Vancouver — photos through time
Fairmont Hotel Vancouver 4 photos · 2011–2018
Vancouver Block, Vancouver — photos through time
Vancouver Block 4 photos · 2011–2018
The Bay Vancouver, Vancouver — photos through time
The Bay Vancouver 3 photos · 2010–2025
We All Reach for the Blue Sky, Vancouver — photos through time
We All Reach for the Blue Sky 3 photos · 2010–2015
Hotel Georgia, Vancouver — photos through time
Hotel Georgia 2 photos · 2012
Red Spring on Hornby St, Vancouver — photos through time
Red Spring on Hornby St 2 photos · 2011–2016

Stories from Vancouver

What contributors wrote about these photographs.

Vancouver 1981 - Brill trolleybuses southbound on the Granville Mall at Smithe St, Vancouver, 1981
Vancouver 1981 - Brill trolleybuses southbound on the Granville Mall at Smithe St 1981 Downtown Vancouver in 1981 with two CCF-Brill trolleybuses southbound on the Granville Mall at Smithe Street, the nearest being No. 2251 in service on route 4–Fourth. No. 2251 was wearing the BC Hydro Transit paint…
The Bay, Vancouver, BC, Vancouver, 2011
The Bay, Vancouver, BC 2011 The Hudson's Bay Company department store in downtown Vancouver, photographed in 2011. Known locally as 'The Bay,' the retailer has operated in Canada since the 17th century, with this flagship store long anchoring the…
Georgia hotel, Vancouver, Vancouver, 2012
Georgia hotel, Vancouver 2012 Vancouver's Hotel Georgia rises above downtown near Georgia Street, an Art Deco landmark dating to the late 1920s that has remained a fixture of the city's streetscape. This photograph was taken in 2012, with the hotel…
Hotel Georgia, Vancouver, 2012
Hotel Georgia 2012 A closer view of the Hotel Georgia in downtown Vancouver, one of the city's early twentieth-century hotels near Georgia Street, still standing among the surrounding office towers that have grown up around it since the…
Technology and Society The Dominon Building, Vancouver, 2017
Technology and Society The Dominon Building 2017 Completed in 1910 at the corner of Hastings and Cambie streets, the Dominion Building was among Vancouver's earliest steel-framed skyscrapers and is often cited as briefly the tallest building in the British Empire. This…
Art Gallery, Vancouver, 2017
Art Gallery 2017 The Vancouver Art Gallery occupies the former provincial courthouse in downtown Vancouver, a Francis Rattenbury-designed building later converted into the city's principal public art museum. This 2017 photograph shows…
Downtown VanCity (Unsplash), Vancouver, 2017
Downtown VanCity (Unsplash) 2017 A 2017 street-level view of downtown Vancouver, Canada, the glass-towered heart of a Pacific coast city built on a peninsula between Burrard Inlet and False Creek. Vancouver's compact core has become one of North…
Bay Building, Vancouver, Vancouver, 2025
Bay Building, Vancouver 2025 The Hudson's Bay Company store at Georgia and Granville streets anchors a corner of downtown Vancouver, its classical facade of columns and terracotta trim dating to the early 20th century, when the district developed as…
1900s · 2 photos
1920s · 1 photo
1940s · 1 photo
1980s · 1 photo
2000s · 1 photo
2010s · 46 photos · showing 12, all 46 on the map ↗
2020s · 4 photos