Have you ever wondered how Heywood Park got its name? What about Mahon, Loutet, Murdo Frazer, Keith Lynn, Bridgman and many more? These legacy park names were intended to honour and recognize people from North Vancouver’s past. While the park names are familiar, the origin of their names is not well known but the history and links to North Vancouver of the men…and women…behind the names is fascinating.

In November 2024, North Shore Heritage was contacted by a woman who was packing up her mother’s house and wanted to donate “house plans”. The next thing we knew, we were in possession of the Forest Hills development brochure, a 36-page, cirlox-bound booklet with an amazing choice of 31 designs, a stark contrast to the cookie-cutter developments of today! The booklet, while primarily a marketing and advertising vehicle at the time, is now a fantastic piece of history and art, documenting architectural styles and social norms of the mid 1950’s.