Celebrating Nanaimo's Great Women, Now and Then!
1. IODE Parade float ca. 1946
2..Winning women's curling team, ca. 1955
3.Odeon Cubs women`s softball team, 1947
4. Garden Party at "Eldovilla", Stewart Avenue, 1914.
5. Olive Green, Nanaimo Nurses Training School, ca , ca. 1920
#nanaimoarchives
Aerial photograph of the Wallace and Albert Streets intersection in Nanaimo, BC, circa 1972
Another area that has undergone significant change.
#nanaimoarchives
Some of the homebaked goodies we had at our recent Open House. We made them from recipes in our cookbook collection to celebrate BC Heritage Week's Stir the Pot event.
Free Event, Everyone Welcome. Archives Open House featuring homemade vintage goodies to celebrate this years BC Heritage Week theme "Stir the Pot". #nanaimoarchives #bcheritageweek
Designed to complement the Nanaimo Art Gallery's current exhibit Bleached by the Sun: Perspectives on Chinatown, this video includes photographs from our Kin Lee Jung collection.
THEN AND THEN
Today, we know this building as the Flying Fish store but it has housed numerous businesses over its 125 year history including the two shown in the photographs here.
Spot the changes!
We were delighted to share our collections witht he Nanaimo Art Gallery for their upcoming Chinatowns exhibit. Check it out!
nanaimoartgallery.ca/exhibition/b...
The Pygmy was "the" place to go to cut a rug!
Walking tour for the Nanaimo Art Gallery's "Commercial Street" exhibit.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGoQ...
Aerial photograph of the Millstone River estuary area in Nanaimo showing the waterfront, Foundry, Civic Arena and other buildings. Taken around 1972.
Find the changes! Sort of like where's Waldo but historical.
Since 1993, we have provided public access to Nanaimo's historical records. Our holdings include thousands of one-of-a-kind maps, architectural drawings and photographs. Check out our webpage at nanaimoarchives.ca or visit us in person. You are always welcome!
And we thought we invented Movember.....
Image of a section of an 1881 Nanaimo map showing downtown and the waterfront.
Talk about change!
One of our most frequent information requests is about the evolution of Nanaimo's downtown waterfront. Well, a picture is worth a thousand words.....
#nanaimoarchives
Photograph of Danica Goble, new Manager at Nanaimo Archives, September 2025
Aerial photograph of Harbour Park (now Port Place) Mall in downtown Nanaimo around 1975.
Harbour Park (now Port Place) Mall
Aerial photograph of Swy-a-lana Lagoon and adjacent park in Nanaimo British Columbia around 1983
Any water on a hot day.....
#nanaimoarchives
colour photograph of the dining room with the "star ceiling" at the Diner's Rendezvous Restaurant in Nanaimo British Columbia in 1966.
When this was THE place in town for a night out....
Happy weekend everyone!
#nanaimoarchives
Aerial photograph of Terminal Park Shopping Plaza in Nanaimo British Columbia around 1970. Shows buildings, cars, parking lot and roads.
THINGS CHANGE
Photograph shows 2 major grocery stores, Overwaitea and Safeway, at Terminal Park.
....and then there were none.
#nanaimoarchives #terminalparknanaimo
Photograph of Commercial Street, looking north from Terminal Avenue in Nanaimo British Columbia. Taken around 1943. Image from the Nanaimo Archives
Check out the Commercial Street Market tonight!
Aerial photograph of the Departure Bay area in Nanaimo British Columbia around 1973.
Photograph of the Departure Bay Beach with swimmers in Nanaimo, around 1965
#nanaimoarchives #departurebay
Aerial photograph of the beach area at Westwood Lake in Nanaimo, taken around 1962.
It's swimming season again.....
#nanaimoarchives
Photograph of the Wallace and Commercial Street intersection in Nanaimo around 1960. Shows cars and buildings.
As the old A&B Sound Building (left) undergoes a transformative renovation, it's fun to look back on what it used to look like!
#nanaimoarchives #nanaimohistory #downtownnanaimo
