South Granville — Vancouver, BC
Posted by: 
Dunbar Loop
N 49° 15.494 W 123° 08.338
10U E 489888 N 5456171
By 1916, South Granville saw its first gas stations and only car dealer, later becoming an automotive engineering school, then a winery, before the building was demolished for apartments.
Waymark Code: WM1C00K
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 05/06/2025
Views: 1
By 1916 automobiles had become a common sight on the city's streets and South Granville started to see the construction of the first of several gas stations but there was only one automobile dealer. BC Motors had their showroom at 15th. Avenue just west of Granville Street and sold popular though long vanished models such as Premier, King 8, and Lexington, along with Federal trucks.
A few years later the building became the new home of the Hemphill Automobile and Gas Tractor Engineering School which trained students from around the province in the engineering arts. When the Hemphill school moved out the building became home to the Growers Wine Company before it was torn down for apartments.
At the turn of the 20th century, Vancouver was a young and rapidly growing city. Streetcars were the dominant form of transportation, and Granville Street was already a major north–south thoroughfare, connecting downtown to the southern reaches of the city.
By 1916, as noted on the sign, automobiles were no longer novelties — they were becoming everyday machines. The appearance of BC Motors at 15th Avenue, selling makes like Premier, King 8, and Lexington, marks South Granville’s early embrace of car culture. These were brands competing with the likes of Ford, but most eventually disappeared due to industry consolidation, especially after the economic shifts following World War I.
The opening of gas stations around this time is equally significant. Early service stations were not the convenience-store hybrids we know today. They were more like small garages or curbside pumps, usually affiliated with oil companies such as Imperial Oil or Shell. Their arrival in South Granville meant more than just fuel — it meant car ownership was growing and the neighbourhood was reshaping itself around motor traffic.
The Hemphill Automobile and Gas Tractor Engineering School, which occupied the BC Motors building a few years later, is another clue to how deeply the automobile was altering society. It wasn’t just about selling cars — people needed to know how to drive them, fix them, and engineer improvements. The school’s presence suggests South Granville was more than a retail hub — it was becoming a technical centre for a new economy.