James Cooper Keith and the Ubiquitous, Eponymous Keith Road

Have you ever tried to find a Keith Road address on the North Shore? The many Keith Road sections can test the best of location locators as it starts and stops its way along a route that stretches from Second Narrows to Horseshoe Bay.

Before Marine Drive and the Upper Levels Highway connected the North Shore, Keith Road  started life as a link from east to west. James Cooper Keith instigated the construction and put up an initial $40,000 to get it going. JC Keith was the second reeve (1892-1894) of the newly incorporated in 1891 District of the Municipality of North Vancouver; today his photograph hangs on the walls of the District of North Vancouver Council Chambers next to the first reeve, Charles J.P. Phibbs.

James Cooper Keith, Reeve of the District of North Vancouver, 1892 – 1894.  Courtesy of MONOVA/North Vancouver Archives, Inventory No 106-15-2

In 1891, the District of North Vancouver stretched from Deep Cove to Horseshoe Bay and JC Keith wanted a road to connect the area in order to facilitate development. This process took years to achieve and encountered many problems including financial difficulties and challenging terrain. According to Kathleen Marjorie Woodward-Reynolds, in her 1943 thesis on the History of the City and District of North Vancouver, “Keith Road crossed a number of mountain streams and three rivers, the Seymour, Lynn and Capilano, which at times became raging torrents washing out bridges on several occasions.”

JC Keith first appears in records of 1876 as a banker in Victoria at the Bank of British Columbia, disappears and then reappears ten years later as a banker at the first Bank of British Columbia in Vancouver. But Keith and the bank parted ways due to Keith’s proclivity for lending money without the assurances the bank required. Nevertheless, it was reported in the 30th June, 1892, edition of Vancouver Weekly World that a large and lavish farewell banquet, with many courses, had taken place in his honour at the Hotel Vancouver where eminent guests delivered magnanimous praise and tributes along with a menu that included Fried Smelts, Young Duckling and Roman Punch. It was suggested in a toast that, “when the history of Vancouver is written the name of J.C. Keith will be a large part of it.” 

Being a land speculator at heart, the North Shore offered Keith the perfect opportunity to broker deals, buy and sell land and property and make money without the constraints of bank rules. According to bcchesshistory,com, Keith was also a keen chess player and before leaving the bank, he established a chess club in 1887: “the Vancouver branch of the Bank of British Columbia, managed by J.C. Keith, opened in a building which also housed the C.P.R. offices. Within a year the Daily Herald could announce the formation of a chess club using the bank's premises – Keith was one of the founding members.”  It is said that buying and selling land and property can be thought of as a game of chess, using strategic thinking and employing other elements of the game to win.

Studio portrait of the original staff of the Bank of British Columbia . Individuals identified are:

Back row (L-R): John Stewart, F.M. Black, G.V. Holt, G.F. Gibson, Middle row: H. Bonner, J.C. Keith, H. Rhodes, E.H. Roome,  Front row: F. Soutan, E.H. Robins, and R.. Harvey

Source: City of Vancouver Archives, Item : LP 33 Copyright Public Domain

James Cooper Keith was born in 1852 in Strichen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. His father is described as an Anglican minister. Keith was the fourth child of seven children and the last to be born in Scotland as the following two siblings were born in Chicago, Illinois in 1854 and 1855 and the last child in Wisconsin in 1859. By age two, Keith was in America.

Strichen, Keith’s birthplace, could not be more different than the North Shore, being located inland in a flat area situated by a river 55 km NE of Aberdeen. But Aberdeenshire must have remained in his blood as the Aberdeen Block in Lower Lonsdale (92 Lonsdale), built in 1910/1911, was originally named the Keith Block with a “K” in the shield above the doorway. By 1912 it was known as the Aberdeen Block. And there is a Chicago connection in that the building as, according to the entry in Canada’s Historic Places, the Aberdeen Block “reflects the architecture of the Chicago School in its tripartite arrangement and symmetrical composition.”

The Aberdeen Block, 92 Lonsdale Avenue, Courtesy of MONOVA/North Vancouver Archives, Inventory No 5824

The doorway at the “Aberdeen” Building with the “K” for Keith as a tribute to its original name, the Keith Block. Photo by Jennifer Clay.

There is another Keith Block at 93 Lonsdale. Built in 1908, it is a three-storey, flat-roofed, wood-frame, Edwardian-era structure with a distinctive curved corner entranceway that today is home to the 49th Parallel coffee shop. Grab a coffee, take a seat and imagine the streetscape as it was in 1908. The ferry dock and Wallace Shipyards are close by, Lonsdale is a hub of commercial activity, there are wooden sidewalks, horse drawn carts and an early electric streetcar.

1908 construction of the Keith Block, 93 Lonsdale Avenue. Courtesy of MONOVA/North Vancouver Archives, Inventory No 9248

Current photo of Keith Block, Courtesy Colin Lawrence, with a cameo by the author

From the coffee shop it is a short uphill stroll to East Keith Road which is part of North Vancouver’s Green Necklace. From there, heading east, Keith Road takes you to the southern boundary of Grand Boulevard and the 1910 Keith Residence at number 750. It fittingly borders the boulevard and Keith Road and is an imposing blend of the Tudor Revival and Arts and Crafts styles. An impressive house, but did he live there? Reports suggest he didn’t. 

Keith House at 750 Grand Boulevard, 1970. Courtesy of MONOVA/North Vancouver Archives. Inventory No. 250

Further east on Keith Road is the recently expanded Keith Bridge over Lynn Creek feeding traffic to the Second Narrows and Seymour Parkway, the latter originally part of the Keith Road network. One of the Keith Bridge off ramps has replaced Keith Lynn School and a recent culvert takes Keith Creek under Mountain Highway.

Keith Road splits into East and West at Lonsdale circling Victoria Park. Just past Queen Mary School, at 235 West Keith Road, the road intersects with Mahon Avenue then continues down Keith Boulevard until it disappears at Bewicke and Marine Drive which was originally a segment of Keith Road.

Mahon Avenue and Mahon Park are named after Irishman, Edward Mahon, of the North Vancouver Land and Improvement Company and, like the DNV, it incorporated in 1891. The principal shareholder was an Anglo/Irish man named John Mahon who appointed Edward, his younger brother, to be the company president in North Vancouver. Another shareholder in the company was James Cooper Keith. It was the involvement with this company that furthered the development of the road.

Photo of the City Fathers, 1907. Edward Mahon seated 2nd from right,, followed by Reeve Kealy (an employee of Edward Mahon and James Cooper Keith at the Western Corp), followed by James Cooper Keith. Image Courtesy of MONOVA/North Vancouver Archives. INV- 96

After disappearing at Bewicke and Marine, West Keith Road reappears in Pemberton Heights starting at Mackay Avenue heading west then north splitting into two West Keith Roads, one leading to Capilano Road, the other to a dead end. Across the Capilano River on the west side (now known as West Vancouver) is Spuraway Gardens and another piece of Keith Road that was once connected to the east side of the river by the Keith Road Bridge. Jennifer Clay explained in her blog post on Spuraway Gardens that Edward Mahon, in 1910, hearing that the Streetcar Line would be extended to the Keith Road Bridge, “decided to buy a prime 40 acre lot of land to capitalize on the expected development of land west of the Keith Road Bridge.”

Street Car No 24 in 1910 at Keith Road and 22nd Street at Mackay Creek. Courtesy of MONOVA/North Vancouver Archives, Inventory No 6583

Keith Road continues past Spuraway Gardens and then crosses over Taylor Way and today it disappears at 13th and Marine Drive. In 1908 the Old Keith Road would have continued to what was then Lawson Avenue, now 17th Street. Today John Lawson Park is situated at the foot of 17th Street and next door at 1768 Arglye Avenue is the Navvy Jack house. Built in 1872, it is the oldest settler structure in West Vancouver and thought to be the oldest continuously occupied house in the Lower Mainland. The now vacated building was recently threatened with demolition but due to the perseverance and resourcefulness of concerned citizens it will be restored and take on a new life as a coffee house venue.

March 16, 1908 photograph of a group of people standing outside the Lawson family home, Hollyburn House, located at the foot of Lawson Avenue [17th Street]. The house is also known as the Navvy Jack Thomas house. Courtesy of West Vancouver Archives. Image 097.WVA.LAW

The original owner, Navvy Jack Thomas, was a Welsh, Royal Navy sailor who abandoned that life to settle here. He married the granddaughter of the Squamish Nation Chief Kiepalano and they had three daughters. Their father, Navvy Jack, died suddenly in Barkerville – there are various dates given but possibly 1897 - where he had been pursuing a venture financed with funds taken against the house. To clear the debt the house was sold at a bargain price to Keith in 1905 who sold it the following year to John Lawson.

Phyllis Sarah Walden said in her 1943 UBC thesis that “prior to the incorporation of West Vancouver in 1912, Keith Road, Marine Drive and a few other streets were the only routes available for horse drawn vehicles. Keith Road extended from the Capilano River to Eagle Harbour but was frequently obstructed by fallen trees and washed-out bridges.” Today, Keith Road between Marine Drive and the Upper levels west of West Bay snakes around appearing and disappearing with its final stop Horseshoe Bay where B.C. Ferries is located at 6750 Keith Road. Close by are Passage Island and Bowen Island.

James Cooper Keith had a hand in countless real estate pies. At one time, it seems, he owned Passage Island that he is said to have sold in 1893 for a dollar an acre. But then rather confusingly, it is also recorded that in 1958 his daughter’s executor sold Passage Island for $7,000.  On Bowen Island he owned considerable acreage in the Hood Point area where the Howe Sound Hotel was developed by a lessee. In 1904, Governor General Lord Minto, a Scotsman, on his farewell tour as GG, arrived unexpectedly having disembarked nearby and signed the register at the hotel. The reason for the stop is not recorded but one article suggested that it was the Scottish connection between Minto and Keith. When the lessee hotel owner encountered financial difficulties, the hotel reverted to Keith who made it a family summer home called Invercraig.

Keith family summer home, the Invercraig Lodge, Hood Point, Bowen Island, the year that it ceased to be the Howe Sound Hotel. ca.1911. Courtesy of Bowen Island Museum and Archives

On Monday 22nd April, 1907, page one of The Province ran an eye-catching article claiming that JC Keith was about to inherit many millions from the estate of “Silent” Smith of New York, a financier and a cousin of Keith who died suddenly at age 52. The inheritance, it asserted, would make Keith by far the wealthiest man in Vancouver. Keith’s mother, Christian, was a Smith. Her brother George S. Smith’s son James, known as “Silent” Smith, inherited a fortune from another George Smith, part of the same Smith family, who never married so had no direct heirs. This George Smith, known as George “Chicago” Smith, had been a canny and capable Scotsman who made an enormous fortune establishing a successful bank in Chicago. Both of the George Smith cousins, at different times, crossed the Atlantic from Scotland to settle in Illinois and both were born in Old Deer, Aberdeenshire. Old Deer sits ten kilometers down the road from Strichen where James Cooper Keith was born.

Towards the end of the following year on 11th November, 1908, the Victoria Daily Times ran an article saying that James Cooper Keith, “one of the wealthiest citizens of Vancouver, and a year ago made an heir of “Silent” Smith, New York millionaire, will be a candidate for mayor of Vancouver” indicating that Keith had indeed inherited Smith’s large fortune. He was, however, an unsuccessful mayoral candidate. But what appears to be the reality of the inheritance is in a list of several Smith bequests in the Illinois, Waukegan Daily Sun, 8th May 1907, with, James C. Keith, of Vancouver, a cousin, getting $100,000. And while not inheriting millions as the Vancouver and Victoria newspapers of the day hinted at, in today’s money $100,000 US in 1907 would be worth $3.25 million.

Six years later, Keith was dead at age 62 from pleurisy but rather than leaving a fortune, he left an estate with more liabilities than assets. On Monday, June 25, 1917 on page 19 of The Province newspaper his widow and executrix, Anne Jane Keith, publicly declared James Cooper Keith’s estate as insolvent. It took until 1926 to settle the estate.

Researching JC Keith’s life for this blog post led to many dead ends, just like Keith Road. No family photos of James with his wife or daughter could be traced. Photos found were his official photo as second reeve of the District of North Vancouver, and some early group bank photos. No trace found as to what happened with the inherited money or profits from his many land deals.

A financier, a developer, a speculator and a chess player, the endgame of his life was not what was expected of the young banker who showed so much promise. At the 1892 banquet held at the Hotel Vancouver. one of the participants is quoted as saying, “Mr. J.C. Keith’s name will be as necessary to make such history (of Vancouver) complete as is that of Hamlet in Shakespeare’s great play.”

The legacy that remains of James Cooper Keith, the second Reeve of the District of North Vancouver, is with the North Shore. The Grand Boulevard Residence, the Aberdeen Block, the Keith Block and his ubiquitous and eponymous Keith Road that in some areas is a significant arterial thoroughfare and in other areas a meandering residential street.

Keith Road sign, Courtesy Colin Lawrence

Note:

“Silent” Smith, cousin of JC Smith, was born in 1855 at Millburn, Lake County, Illinois. Growing up, he was, "thought to be a morose loner by playmates" and became known as "Silent" Smith. He moved to Brooklyn, New York, and was a senior partner of Geddes & Smith, Brokers. His father was a cousin of George “Chicago” Smith, 1808-1899 and in 1899 "Silent Smith" inherited $22 million of Chicago Smith’s $52 million fortune. On September 13, 1906, at Alvie, Inverness-shire, he married the former Mrs Annie (Armstrong) Rhinelander Stewart, of Baltimore. He died in 1907 while on honeymoon in Japan.

Except where indicated, text and images Copyright @ North Shore Heritage and Anne-Marie Lawrence 2017-2023. All rights reserved. Republication in whole or in part is prohibited without the written consent of the copyright holder.

Acknowledgements, Resources and Notes:

• MONOVA, North Vancouver Museum and Archives are an excellent and valuable source of information and photos. Special thanks to Christy Brain. https://monova.ca/archives/

• Jenny Morgan, NSH Blog writer, who so kindly searched through archival newspaper clippings to reveal buried aspects of JC Keith’s life  – a huge thank you.

• A History of the City and District of North Vancouver. Thesis October 1943. Kathleen Marjorie Woodward-Reynolds.

• A History of West Vancouver, 1943 Thesis, UBC, Department of History, Phyllis Sarah Walden.

• Cathro, Robert J.  British Columbia History; Vancouver Vol. 38, Iss. 4,  (2005): 6-9

• Bowen Island Museum and Archives.

• Canada’s Historic Places: A Federal, Provincial and Territorial Collaboration.

• Ancestry.ca and Ancestors Family Search.

• Vancouver versus New Westminster, 1887 (bcchesshistory.com)