Eighth Street in New Westminster has always been a prominent thoroughfare, tracing all the way back to the initial survey of the city. In the early plans, the lower portion of Eighth, near Columbia Street and ending close to the waterfront, was broad, open and available as a “merchant square”, affording additional space for the landing of cargo inland from the docks. An article in 1912 gives us an interesting perspective.
The road was in good shape for a considerable distance and ready for a new mode of transportation. The article pointed out that “the road itself has been macadamized and oiled from Edmonds Road, Burnaby, to Columbia Street, and it is known to be a fine traffic and automobile highway.”
The sidewalks on either side of the street part way up the hill to Fourth Avenue had been completed and were to be lined on either side by grassed boulevards, “so that Eighth Street will be beautiful as well as useful in the near future.”
The article also referred to two new hotels in the lower block of the street which made the road even more important due to this area’s proximity to the CPR, the BCER, the community’s tram system and the overall downtown section of town.
The two hotels were the Premier, on the east side at Carnarvon St, and the Dunsmuir on the west side between Carnarvon and Columbia. The Premier was described as being four storeys in height with a dark red brick finish. It apparently had many modern conveniences as well as a dining room and a bar that operated in the hotel.
The comments on the Dunsmuir Hotel include some wonderful descriptions of amenities to be found in a new hotel, noted as being a “second class house” from around 1912. The hotel had 48 rooms on its second and third storeys, and “each has an enamel wash basin fitted with hot and cold water, electric light, and telephones to connect with the office.” To keep warm in the winter “each room contains a steam coil, thus insuring comfort in the coldest weather.”
The main floor of the building offered other features to the hotel’s patrons and to the neighbourhood, while its rooms, as noted, were on the two floors above. A primary feature of this part of the Dunsmuir was its pool room and a café at street level, operated by Mr. Charles Nunn, who had previously been with Kenny’s Café, also in the local area.
You will have noticed in the description of the Premier Hotel that it had a bar on the premises, but this was very different across the street at the Dunsmuir. The article reported: “The Dunsmuir is especially remarkable in that it is the only temperance hotel in the city.”
And so we have an interesting look at a portion of Eighth Street – 1912 style.
