Lower Lonsdale is a historic waterfront neighbourhood in the City of North Vancouver. Lower Lonsdale runs up Lonsdale Avenue from Lonsdale Quay

Lonsdale Quay

Lonsdale Quay is a major transit hub for Vancouver's North Shore municipalities, as well as a public market and tourist destination. Located at the foot of Lonsdale Avenue in the City of North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, it is the northern terminal for the SeaBus passenger ferry...

 to Keith Road. Its history is inseparably connected to the lumber and shipbuilding industries on the North Shore of Burrard Inlet

Burrard Inlet

Burrard Inlet is a relatively shallow-sided coastal fjord in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Formed during the last Ice Age, it separates the City of Vancouver and the rest of the low-lying Burrard Peninsula from the slopes of the North Shore Mountains, home to the communities of West...

, as well as ferry crossings connecting the area to downtown Vancouver. Lower Lonsdale is currently going through large waterfront renewal processes. The old shipyards are being torn down, making way for new public spaces, condominiums, retail outlets and a hotel.

History

In 1860 a Catholic Missionary was ordered to build a church on the water front of what is now called St. Pauls Church

Shortly afterwards two men by the name of T. W. Graham and George Scrimgeour secured a pre-emption of 150 acre (0.607029 km²), the first on the North Shore

North Shore (Greater Vancouver)

"Vancouver's North Shore" is a term commonly used to refer to several areas adjacent to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada:*the District of West Vancouver;*the City of North Vancouver;*the District of North Vancouver; and...

 of the Burrard Inlet.

They proceeded to build a lumber mill and named it The Pioneer Mills and was the first industrial lumber plant on the Inlet. This consequently initiates an influx of residents.

With the mill facing bankruptcy, an American by the name of Sewell Prescott Moody bought the Mill.

Gentrification

In the 1990s and 2000s, the City of Vancouver embarked on an ambitious plan to redevelop former industrial lands of Lower Lonsdale. Highrise and lowrise condominium and other multi-family developments were constructed in the area between 3rd Street and south to the waterfront.

During that time, many new restaurants and retailers have located in the stretch of Lonsdale Avenue between 3rd Street and Burrard Inlet. The City also oversaw the construction of the John Braithwaite Community Center, located in the 100 block of 1st Street.

A national maritime museum is proposed for former shipyards site on Esplanade Avenue, pending funding from federal and provincial governments.