Old Hastings Mill Store Museum

Vancouver BC's oldest surving building, located at the foot of Alma Street in Point Grey. Built circa 1865 and originally located at the foot of Dunlevy Street (East of Gastown), the Hastings Mill Store's first life was as a center of trade and commerce for the young port city of Vancouver. It acted as the city’s first post office, library and community centre, and also played a pivotal role in the Great Fire of 1886. It was relegated to storage in 1887 and placed behind a common false front which preserved it as a relic of Vancouver’s pioneer past.

Later facing demolition, after the Mill was sold in 1927, a female historical society known as the Native Daughters of BC rallied to save the building, and on July 28, 1930, the Old Hastings Mill Store was hoisted aboard a large scow, and towed some ten kilometers from Burrard Inlet, through the Lions Gate and across English Bay to its new location. On January 16, 1932 it was officially dedicated as a “Museum of B.C. Historical Relics in Memory of the Pioneers” by Premier Simon.F. Tolmie.

Throughout WWII, the store served as a Red Cross Depot and work room. In the archives, there are dozens of receipts for everything from gauze bandages to overcoats. After the war the Old Hastings Mill Store reverted back to a museum and acquisitions continued to grow. The Native Daughters of BC continue to operate the museum which houses many precious relics of Vancouver's early days.

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