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Originally built near Gastown in 1865, the Old Hastings Mill Store is one of the city's few surviving structures from the Great Fire of 1886. Located on the Burrard Inlet at the foot of what is now Dunlevy Avenue, Hastings Mills was part of the first commercial settlement within the bounds of modern day Vancouver.
Viewed above in its original context, the small white building next to what became the clearly labelled second Hastings Mill Store in 1887, was the original Hastings Mill Store from 1865. A key part of Vancouver's early history, both as a major port city and exporter of lumber, Hastings Mill Store was a part of daily life for local workers for more than half a century.
In 1930, after more than sixty years on the site, the original Hastings Mill Store fell into disrepair, and was slated for demolition. Purchased by the Native Daughters of British Columbia, the historic structure was removed from its foundations, and sent by barge to its current home at the bottom of Alma Street in West Point Grey.
Open to the public as a museum, the relocated Old Hastings Mill Store showcases an array of artifacts dating from British Columbia's pioneer past, with many relics of Vancouver's long history as an international exporter of lumber. The structure itself has been well restored, and exists in very much its original condition, its wooden architecture a rarity among the city of steel and glass that has risen around it.
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