Have you ever wandered up 17th Street in West Vancouver and enjoyed the shade of the green canopy of trees that create an arbour up to Inglewood? In addition to being a welcome respite from the hotter summer temperatures, these “heritage” trees, and others on 13th and 14th, have a story to tell!
Green canopy formed by horsechestnut trees on 17th Street in West Vancouver. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Clay.
In 1935, the 2nd West Vancouver Boy Scout Troop arranged an Arbor Day with the objectives of:
Fundraising for their troop
Commemorating Lord Baden-Powell’s visit to Vancouver on April 15, 1935
Bringing attention to the Boy Scout movement
Beautifying the streets
The scouts’ goal was to plant at least 200 trees in West Vancouver, mostly adjacent to public buildings in three locations:
Along 17th on both sides from Marine Drive up to Inglewood, passing District Hall and ending at Inglewood High School, now called West Vancouver Secondary School
On 13th, between Duchess and Esquimalt around Hollyburn Elementary School
On 14th, between Esquimalt and Gordon
With the support of the West Vancouver News, a “Sponsor A Tree” Campaign was started. For 25 cents, you could sponsor a tree and have your name on a tag attached to the tree. West Vancouver News advertised the campaign, helped collect donations and published the names of sponsors in weekly updates. Who would have wanted to miss the opportunity to sponsor “splendid young, sturdy, Chestnut trees that will develop into magnificent groves in the future”?
West Vancouver News, May 9, 1935. Courtesy of West Vancouver Archives
The three-year old trees were to be donated by the provincial government and would be planted by the Scouts. Arbor Day was originally supposed to take place in April 1935 but was pushed back to May 24, 1935 due to a late spring. The final tally suggests that 248 trees were planted in the 3 locations.
In addition to the tree tags, there was a chart created and posted at the Post Office in Hollyburn and at the Dundarave Pharmacy which showed the location of the trees with the sponsorship names displayed.
007-7.7-1.T12.001 Plan of Chestnut trees planted by the 2nd WV Boy Scouts troop on 17th Street, including names of sponsors. Courtesy of West Vancouver Archives.
As well, a plaque was installed on the northeast corner of 17th and Esquimalt. This plaque no longer exists but was located where the new wing of the District Hall now stands.
Plaque that was located on the northeast corner of 17th and Esquimalt. 2585-03-01.104.30.DWV. Courtesy of West Vancouver Archives.
Since the planting of the trees, some of them have been removed but not without vigorous public debates, letter-writing campaigns and even a lawsuit by the North Shore Tree Keepers against the District of West Vancouver, asking for $25,000 per tree for 5 trees which were removed in 2003! The main reason for removal seems to relate to the trees’ interference with power lines and although there have been public complaints about the large volumes of autumnal foliage and chestnuts falling in the yards of homeowners on 17th Street, I could not find any evidence of a tree being removed for this reason.
I was pleased, in my own drive-by survey, to find that sixty-six trees remain on 17th, with fifteen still standing on 14th and twelve trees are present around the perimeter of Hollyburn School including an impressively beautiful tree whose branches drape over into the playground at Hollyburn. I wonder how many kids have climbed that tree in the last 88 years?
Horsechestnut tree on Esquimalt with branches creating shade for the Hollyburn School playground. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Clay.
In walking up 17th, I also noticed a number of lovely heritage bungalows that are now dwarfed, but nicely framed, by the trees. A nice merger of built and landscape heritage!
1016 17th Street, West Vancouver, built in 1930, five years before the chestnut trees were planted. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Clay.
967 17th Street, West Vancouver, built in 1941, 6 years after the chestnut trees were planted. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Clay.
In my opinion, these 88-year-old “heritage” trees are a lovely legacy of the 2nd West Vancouver Boy Scout Troop who were ahead of their time in choosing “shade” trees for their commemorative planting. Based on my research for this article, the history of these trees is not well publicized and I would urge the District of West Vancouver to consider re-installing the plaque (or likeness) on the northeast corner of 17th and Esquimalt and additionally, reproducing the map of the sponsors, which contains the names of many early day West Vancouver citizens. I checked and there is a lot of room at that corner!
Except where indicated, text and images Copyright @ North Shore Heritage and Jennifer Clay. All rights reserved. Republication in whole or in part is prohibited without the written consent of the copyright holder.
Sources
Thank you to Reto Tschan at the West Vancouver Archives for his help with my research!
Chestnut Tree Research Memorandum, August 26, 2003 from Lois Enns, West Vancouver
“Lawsuit Filed over W. Van chestnuts”, January 9, 2004, The North Shore News
“Scout News”, July 25, 1935, West Vancouver News