The McLaughlin Carriage Company on West Georgia, circa 1918 (Vancouver City Archives Photo)

(click on any photo to enlarge)

We’ve seen several car dealerships developed along West Georgia Street in the early part of the 20th century, including Consolidated Motor Company on Georgia and Bute. On the north side of the street was the the McLaughlin Carriage Company’s showroom, shown above in an undated image, which we guess might be from 1918. McLaughlin started manufacturing automobiles in Oshawa in 1907.

Several houses, dating back only a few years, stood here before the garage was built in 1912. It was designed by W M Dodd under the auspices of McLaughlin manager Harry White, who spent $30,000 (~$780,000 in today’s economy) on the new investment. The building was also home to the Pierce-Arrow Motor Co, a US-based car manufacturer from Buffalo, New York.

A shady garden where McLaughlin Carriage once stood.

In 1926 McLaughlin moved their operations from the West Georgia location to a building on Burrard Street. The West Georgia building continued to serve as the showroom for a series of different auto sales firms until it became the Canadian Government Ordnance Machine Shop during WWII. By 1946 the Clarke Simpkins auto dealership (named for and run by Ford of Canada’s then-vice-president) had set up shop there. Simpkins capitalized on the end of the wartime production hiatus, with consumers eager to buy his new vehicles. By the late ‘50s BC Garage Supply Ltd ‘auto jobbers’ were using the building.

Have a thought about your neighbourhood’s history. If you ever wonder what was there before versus what’s there now, do some research and you’ll uncover fascinating stories.

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