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Fountain Chapel

African Methodist Episcopal churchesBlack Canadian organizationsChurches in VancouverHistory of Black people in British ColumbiaHistory of Black people in Canada
Fountain Chapel
Fountain Chapel

The Fountain Chapel was a church located at 823 Jackson Avenue in Vancouver, British Columbia from 1918 until 1985. It was the local chapter of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) and was co-founded by Nora Hendrix (grandmother of guitarist Jimi Hendrix) to serve Vancouver's black community. Although not officially designated a heritage structure, the building is one of a few markers of the black community that once flourished in this part of Vancouver. Prior to the establishment of the Fountain Chapel, black Christians held services in rented halls around town, and eventually a small group decided they should have a permanent church of their own. They set out to raise funds for the project and arranged for the AME to match the amount raised locally. Once financing was secured, they purchased the building on Jackson Avenue that was built in 1910 and had served as a Lutheran church for German and Scandinavian immigrants.The AME is a well-established Christian denomination that was founded in 1816 by African Americans in response to the racism they encountered in non-segregated churches. As such, the AME was an important institution for black opposition to antebellum slavery and anti-black racism generally. The AME's activist tradition continued in Vancouver. The church was the locus for organizing against racism on more than one occasion. In the 1922-1923 trial of Fred Deal, a railroad porter charged with murdering Vancouver police constable and Victoria Cross recipient Robert McBeath, the congregation of the Fountain Chapel mobilized to ensure that the likelihood Deal was racially targeted by police was accounted for in the verdict. Consequently, the case was re-tried and Deal's original death sentence was reduced to life in prison. In another case in the 1950s, the Fountain Chapel was used to voice the black community's demands for an inquiry into the police beating of Clarence Clemons, a black longshoreman, who died shortly after the incident in question.The black community that had geographically coalesced around the Fountain Chapel in the city's East End was displaced during the city's slum clearance programs of the 1950s and 1960s. In 1985, not long after Nora Hendrix's death, the AME sold the building, which housed the Basel Hakka Lutheran Church from then until 2008, when the building was officially decommissioned as a church and became a private residence. The building is situated at the eastern edge of what was once Hogan's Alley. On January 30, 2014, Canada Post issued a stamp commemorating Hogan's Alley and the Official First Day Cover depicts an illustration of the Fountain Chapel.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Fountain Chapel (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Fountain Chapel
Jackson Avenue, Vancouver

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Wikipedia: Fountain ChapelContinue reading on Wikipedia

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Latitude Longitude
N 49.277 ° E -123.0939 °
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Jackson Avenue 823
V6A Vancouver
British Columbia, Canada
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Fountain Chapel
Fountain Chapel
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Hogan's Alley, Vancouver
Hogan's Alley, Vancouver

Hogan's Alley was the local, unofficial name for Park Lane, an alley that ran through the southwestern corner of Strathcona in Vancouver, British Columbia. The alley was located between Union and Prior (North-South) and ran from approximately Main Street to Jackson Avenue (West-East). The area was ethnically diverse, populated by Black, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Jewish, and Indigenous residents during the first six decades of the twentieth century. Home to a number of Black families, Black businesses, and the city's only Black church (the African Methodist Episcopal Fountain Chapel), Hogan's Alley has been referred to as the "first and last neighbourhood in Vancouver with a substantial concentrated black population". Hogan's Alley had a vibrant night life, with eateries and nightclubs that hosted local residents, railway porters, and touring musicians alike.Most of Hogan's Alley was destroyed circa 1970 by the Non-Partisan Association civic government's construction of the Georgia Viaduct, the first phase of a planned interurban freeway originally set to run through Hogan's Alley and much of Chinatown and Gastown. The subsequent freeway construction was stopped by the Strathcona Property Owners and Tenants Association, and Strathcona, Chinatown and Gastown were spared from razing, but not before Hogan's Alley was mostly demolished and the viaducts were built. The area where Hogan's Alley once was currently bears little mark of the Black community's historical presence. Since its destruction, Hogan's Alley has been referenced in several community-based cultural works and city projects. Groups such as Hogan's Alley Memorial Project, the Hogan's Alley Working Group, and the Hogan's Alley Society have worked to memorialize the area and advocate for Vancouver's Black community. In 2015, the City of Vancouver announced its plans to remove the viaducts and establish a cultural centre in the Hogan's Alley area.

Kissa Tanto
Kissa Tanto

Kissa Tanto is an Italian-Japanese fusion restaurant in the Chinatown neighborhood of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The 80-seat restaurant, which opened in June 2016, is on the second floor of 263 E Pender St. Its name comes from the Japanese word kissa, referring to the jazz cafes of 1960s Tokyo, and the Italian word tanto, meaning "a lot" or "so much". Kissa Tanto is co-owned by restaurateur Tannis Ling, executive chef Joël Watanabe, and sous chef Alain Chow, who collectively envisioned it as an escapist, anachronistic concept. The restaurant's visual design was as central to its development as the menu. The unobtrusive exterior was left in a state of slight disrepair, and is marked only by a small awning and neon sign. The restaurant's interior is inspired by the mid-century modern design movement, with curved banquettes, banker's lamps, extensive use of maple and walnut, and polished brass fixtures. It references the jazz cafes which inspired its name with a glossy coved ceiling and stacks of vinyl records behind the bar in place of the traditional bar mirror. Kissa Tanto serves a modern fusion of Italian and Japanese cuisine, a pairing that appears unusual, but has some historical and culinary basis. Both cuisines focus on simplicity, umami flavors, and local ingredients. The fusion style is flexible and intuitive; traditional ingredients from each cuisine are added to dishes from the other as required rather than attempting to follow a strict formula. The whole fried fish has been singled out by reviewers as the restaurant's signature dish. Since its launch, Kissa Tanto has garnered positive reviews for its romantic, retro-style design philosophy and innovative menu. It has been highly ranked on several Canadian "best restaurant" lists, including the Canada's 100 Best list. In its first year, several critics named it "best new restaurant".

St. James Anglican Church (Vancouver)
St. James Anglican Church (Vancouver)

St. James' Anglican Church (Saint James Parish of Vancouver, BC) is a unique church building in the Diocese of New Westminster of the Anglican Church of Canada located at the north-east corner of East Cordova Street (formerly Offenheimer Street) and Gore Avenue in the City of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in what is now its east Downtown and Strathcona neighbourhoods containing the Downtown Eastside district (originally Japantown).The original building was completed in the spring of 1881 on Alexander Street (west of Main Street) in the Town of Granville (aka Gastown), Burrard Inlet to the north west of the present site and was sponsored by Captain James Raymur, the manager of Hastings Mill. Granville was renamed Vancouver and the town was incorporated as a city on April 6, 1886. This building burned down in the Great Vancouver Fire of June 13, 1886. The heat of the fire melted the church bell into a puddle that was eventually put on display at the Museum of Vancouver.The present (and third) church building was designed by Adrian Gilbert Scott who later designed the Church of St. Mary and St. Joseph, Poplar, London, England which has architectural similarities. The building is the second to be built at this location on land (east of Main Street) donated by the Canadian Pacific Railway after the fire. Its design is a combination of Art Deco, Romanesque Revival, Byzantine Revival, and Gothic Revival architecture. The walls are made of reinforced concrete, while the roof is made of slate. The building was constructed between 1935 and 1937 and consecrated in 1938. St. James was the first Anglican parish in Vancouver, formerly Granville (aka Gastown), until the establishment of Christ Church (local church), a daughter church, in 1888 that in 1929 became Christ Church Cathedral - the Diocese's second cathedral. Another daughter church, St. Paul's Anglican Church, was established in 1889, and later became a separate parish and is located in the city's West End. The worship tradition is Anglo-Catholic. Offices of Morning and Evening Prayer are said daily. Said (Low) Mass is celebrated daily except Saturdays. A Solemn (High) or Sung Mass is sung every Sunday at 10:30 a.m. The Rector of St James Parish of Vancouver is The Venerable (Father) Kevin Hunt, Archdeacon of Burrard. Andrew Campbell is the Rector's Warden. The other Wardens are Peggy Smyth and Leah Postman. In addition to the Rector and Wardens, the other voting members of the Parish's Board of Trustees are its Lay Delegates to Synod: Jenny Johnson, Pamela McDonald, Ross Hornby, and, its Non-Voting Trustees, the Secretary, Linda Adams, and the Treasurer, Reece Wrightman. The Parish Council usually meets quarterly and is chaired by Louisa Farrell and its secretary is Reece Wrightman. The Parish Vestry meets annually or more often as needed. The Vestry Clerk is Linda Adams.