April 1, 1991, carnegie newsletter

Page 1

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N E W S L ---E T T E R

i d i - ~ a i nS t . ,

V a n c o u v e r , B. C.

APRIL 1 , 1991.

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(604) 665-2289

C a r ; ~ e g i eC h a r a c t e r P o r t r a i t

J I M M Y MORGAN "The f i r s t 100 y r s i s t h e t o u g h e s t ! " M r . Jimmy Norgan i s 100 y e a r s o l d . Born A p r i l 1 , 1891 i n Winnipeg, Jimmy i s t h e d i r e c t a s c e n d a n t of Henry Norgan, famous s w a s h b u c k l e r and r u t h l e s s p i r a t e . "My f a m i l y i s n o t proud o f Henry Morgan. He was e v i l and v e r y d a n g e r o u s . P e o p l e l i k e t o t h i n k t h e r e ' s honour b e i n g r e l a t e d t o him b u t t h e r e i s n ' t . " Henry Morgan was a s l a v e , o r s e r f , who k i l l e d h i s m a s t e r & g o t o n a s h i p . He l e d a mutiny and e v e n t u a l l y became n o t o r i o u s f o r a t t a c k i n g S p a n i s h g a l l e o n s and r u t h l e s s murders o f p r i s o n e r s and f e l l o w crew men. Jimmy organ's f a m i l y came t o Vancouv e r i n 1 8 9 9 , a f t e r h a v i n g q u i t e a few y e a r s i n Wales. "We met my f a t h e r i n Vanc o u v e r . H e worked f o r BC E l e c t r i c & was a f i n e c a b i n e t maker. The f i r s t p l a c e we l i v e d was on G r a v e l y S t . , 2 h o u s e s from Victoria Dr. W e b u i l t t h a t house - i t ' s s t i l l t h e r e t o o & as good a s when h e b u i l t i t . There weren't a l o t of people a r o u n d . They w e r e s t i l l c u t t i n g down huze

Douglas F i r s , S p r u c e and C e d a r s , b u r n i n g t h e stumps. I remember G r a n v i l l e & Hastings s t r e e t s being v i r t u a l l y n f o r e s t . T h e r e were a l o t o f " s k i d r o a d s " , r o a d s made o f l o g s and teams o f h o r s e s p u l l i r l f : t i m b e r a l o n g on t o p o f them. I t was v e r y h a r d work. Cordova S t . , Lakcview D r . and Renfrew were a l l S k i d r o a d s . I d o n ' L 1i k c t h i s a r e a b e i n g c a l l e d " s k i d row" becausr. n f t h e h i s t o r y - i t ' s bad p l a y on word:;." "The C i t y o f Vancouver had o r i g i n a l l y decided t o b u i l d e a s t , because of t h e sug a r f a c t o r y , b u t somehow t h e y grew w e s t . Back t h e n p r o p e r t y on G r a n v i l l e , where B u r k ' s i s t o d a y , would c o s t o n l y $200 f o r a g o o d - s i z e d l o t . l l a s t i n g s from H e a t l e y t o Abbott was a p l a n k r o a d . Around 1900 t h e y p l a n k e d i t up t o Csmbie and had a b i g to-do w i t h t h e mayor, p o l i c e , f i r e d e p a r t m e n t and s e v e r a l p i p e b a n d s . . . i t was a r e a l go! Ply f a t h e r l o s t a l o t o f money b e c a u s e he bought l a n d i n E a s t Van where h e assumed t h e c i t y would grow. Back t h e n G r a n v i l l e on1 y had 6 store:; b u t t h e y s u r e b u i l t i t up o v e r t h e y e n r s . " Jimmy's f i r s t s c h o o l was Cranview. ilc h i s f r i e n d s used t o p l a y f o l l o w t h e l e a d e r , l ~ i d e' n s e e k and durk on t h e rccl

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