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Prepared by
Monika Tomaszewski
November, 1989
The History of Market Square
Market Square’s buildings date from the prosperous 1880’s and early 1890’s and were built at a time when Victoria was enjoying unprecedented growth and prosperity. World demand for the Island’s lumber, coal, sealskins and salmon catapulted Victoria in the global economy. Victoria was finally beginning to evolve from a frontier backwater into a modern metropolis and by the end of the century would be viewed by many as a sophisticated outpost of English culture. Already, the splendid Druid Hotel was hosting royalty and other luminaries and Victoria’s reputation as a premier tourist city was rapidly spreading both in the United States and throughout the colonial network. It was time to modernize and beautify Victoria and thus began the architectural facelift of the city which in some thirty years saw the erection of the Parliament Buildings, the Empress Hotel, the Canadian Pacific Steamship Terminal, cathedrals, banks, office buildings and a multitude of mansions, most of which did evoke “olde England”.
The area now known as Old Town began to rebound from the horrifying recession of the late 1860’s and 70’s. The sealing fleets, ships and chandleries, foundries, manufacturers, and the newly opened E & N railway terminus on Store Street, and the lucrative opium manufacturing houses in Chinatown, firmly entrenched this part of town as the commercial centre. It too began to sprout new buildings in which to house the offices, shops, saloons and hotels needed to accommodate the burgeoning marketplace and the growing number of both residents and visitors. The Market Square complex holds the earliest examples of masonry buildings in the city and also several buildings very representative of the Italianate Victoria style. The architects remain unknown to us except for Thomas Hooper, who designed the Milne Building which today is designated as a Heritage building. Market Square also consist of structures which were built for the Chinese commercial community and are of a completely different style. (See addendum on the origins of the buildings of Market Square). Market Square encompasses the lower block of Johnson, Store and Pandora Streets and the courtyard in the centre now covers the ravine which ran East to West between Johnson and Pandora (then Cormorant) which both symbolically and physically separated the Oriental community from the Occidental one. The history of Market Square thus encompasses the two very different historical realities experienced by the white ethnic immigrant on Johnson Street and the “Chinaman” who lived on Cormorant, both of which differ markedly from the perception of Victoria as a little slice of “olde England”.
Johnson Street
Johnson Street has always been a principal area of commerce in Victoria with half of the buildings in this area built before 1885. The businesses catered to supplying ships and sailors and more spectacularly to gold prospectors during the Gold Rush years (1858-63) when its shops outfitted and provisioned thousands of miners and its saloons and hotels provided cheap accommodation, wine, women and song. This part of town presented the “other face” of Victoria. Not the Victoria of the polo game, cricket match or the regatta; nor the garden parties attended by the British elite of the town, but the Victoria of the Jewish merchant, the Italian grocer, the Chinese launderer, and the Indian selling his wares. The entertainment in this part of town was the roulette wheel and the faro table, cockfights and fisticuffs, oyster bars and minstrels. The voices spilling out of saloons were Spanish, Italian, German, French and Polish. Dancing halls also flourished with Indians and whites mixing freely. Squaws were, in fact, much in demand as partners in the dance known as the mazy whirl. The rule of the house was that the male buy his partner a drink after each dance and although the dance houses were not licensed, the soda water had a peculiar taste and smell and the effects demonstrated that it was not made from “phizz” alone! It seems that the white man was tremendously amused by an inebriated Indian and so alcoholic rotgut was liberally distributed to ensure a steady supply of “funny sights”. Indians and goldminers also gambled together and every night fortunes were made and lost and made back again in the next night. Miners could also greatly amuse themselves playing the Barkerville stunt of breaking the barroom mirror with nuggets. A miner would inquire the price of the mirror and told that it was $40.00, let the nugget fly, and then with a nonchalant “keep the change” stagger out! The nuggets retrieved from the floor netted a hundred dollars. Considering that the individual wealth of a miner panned out to some $10,000, the stunt must have been popular! During the period of these carousals there were some 60 saloons in the Old Town area, but although there was much drunkenness and looseness of morals, there were miraculously no homicides nor the general lawlessness that was so well documented in other Wild West frontier societies.
This relative order was maintained by the British system of justice and was even meted out in the goldfields of the Cariboo when Hanging Judge Begbie rode out bewigged and attired in judicial robes!
Unfortunately, the Indian population did not benefit from the system as their descent into alcoholic oblivion continued unabated. British officials viewed the Indians as savages and as purveyors of sex and disease. The expulsion of the pariah began with the removal of the prostitute squaws from the city and ended with smallpox claiming many Indian lives. By 1885, only 100 Indians remained within city limits. By that time, the sale of liquor to Indians was prohibited by law, but Johnson Street saloons continued to do a brisk business with the Indians using the so called “passing the dollar” method of sales. Transom doors were made in the rear walls of these saloons and a hand could be extended through a miniature window. The hand would contain one silver dollar. The dollar would vanish and in its place a flask of “rot gut” whiskey would be substituted. The hand would vanish and the window would close and neither vendor nor purchaser knew who bought or who sold. Evidence to convict could not be obtained under those circumstances. It is entirely possible that the foundations of the fortunes of many wealthy British Colombians were laid in just this way.
When the Gold Rush ended in 1862, Johnson Street was left to the Chinese residents and to the Jewish inhabitants who lived above their shops, and to the Indians and sailors who continued to drink at the saloons. Until the boom of the ‘80’s, the shops continued to supply the dwindling Victoria population. In fact, some shopkeepers prospered during these years and were well poised to invest and build when times were good again. One such family, the Bossis, were so successful with their grocery stores which they opened in the early ‘60’s that they were able to invest in real estate and build hotels and commercial buildings. (See addendum on the Bossi family). Today The Paradise Bar & Grill in Market Square sits in the former Grand Pacific Hotel built by Giacomo Bossi in 1883. It was heralded as the handsomest building in the city and its saloon sported the longest bar in Victoria. Giacomo Bossi also commissioned the building of Italianate masonry structures at 516 and 522 Johnson Street and at 1435 and 1455 Store Street which today form part of the Market Square complex. His brother, Carlo, also had extensive holdings in this part of town and was an owner of the commercial building at 529 Pandora Street (then Cormorant) built in 1875 and which is today also part of the Market Square complex.
And so Johnson Street entered its “golden years” and continued to prosper until the Edwardian era drew to an abrupt close with the outbreak of World War I. The period between 1886 and 1901 is often referred to as the Jubilee Years and indeed Victoria glittered! In 1892, the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria’s reign was hugely celebrated with bonfires, military parades, and dancing. The new Parliament Buildings were the most beautiful in the province and Craigdarroch Castle built by James Dunsmuir added a magical touch to the skyscape. There was much visiting of royalty and celebrities, among them Mark Twain, Rudyard Kipling and Helen Keller. Johnson Street also took on a distinctly Victoria look with the erection of new hotels, among them, the Senator and the Strand Hotels, which today form part of Market Square. (See addendum on origins of buildings now forming the Market Square complex.) However, Johnson Street continued to mirror “the other” Victoria. The new ornate buildings flanked a street which was “an absolute sea of mud” and its red light district exploded! The Klondike Gold Rush of 1898 once again saw the sidewalks heaped with prospecting supplies and the saloons and brothels did a booming business. The shops on lower Johnson continued to supply the same services offered since 1858: barbers, tailors, tobacconists, gunsmiths, hardware, tents, wagons, groceries, restaurants and saloons. An exciting addition was the Pantages Theatre in 1885 started by a Greek immigrant Alex Pantages, who opened the first such theatre in Seattle and then parlayed it into a successful chain across the Pacific Northwest. Although the Klondike Gold Rush was short-lived in Victoria, (Seattle had now become the Gateway City), Johnson Street continued to prosper throughout the Edwardian Era (1901 - 1914). The mainstays of Victoria’s economy were now that of tourism and public administration, and the influx of the relatively wealthy created the incredible building boom years of 1906 - 1913. The residential areas of Rockland and Oak Bay burgeoned with new mansions and the new luxury suburb of Uplands was created. Workers arrived to the city in droves to work on the construction of these new homes as well as public buildings and roads. Lower Johnson thus continued to service the “working classes” as it had traditionally done, but with nickelodeons and vaudeville adding entertainment value as well. (See attached lists of businesses occupying Market Square on Johnson in 1885 and 1904.)
The building boom rode itself out by 1913 and left in its wake a bankrupt city and thousands of unemployed workers who were forced to leave the city. Although the war did provide some economic relief, the city plunged into an economic depression which did not lift for decades. The city’s demise as a seaport and entreport center in the late 1880’s spelled the end of an industrial era which could ensure a prosperity that tourism and public administration could never engender. The manufacturing businesses in Old Town had closed down by 1890 and the city’s commercial area had moved downtown. But Johnson Street was able to prosper as long as miners and workers lived in the city. By 1905, the Indians had all but disappeared and in 1924 had agreed to move into a reserve at Songhees. By 1920, the workers were gone and they were replaced by retirees and the “greying” of Victoria began. The twenties did not roar in Victoria and the raison d’etre of Lower Johnson was evanescing. The downtown core was dying. Buildings on Government Street devastated by a series of “great fires” were charred and empty. The walk to Johnson Street was depressing and in any case, there was no one left to walk over to it but vagrants and drunks. The soul was gone. By 1960, the deterioration was complete. The “other” Victoria had died ingloriously.
Cormorant Street (now Pandora)
Market Square incorporates four buildings on Pandora Street which were originally built for a community vastly different from the one a block over on Johnson Street. The ravine running east to west between Johnson and Cormorant was physically and symbolically the Great Divide between the Occidental and Oriental in Victoria. The history of Cormorant Street is now the history of Chinatown in Victoria and it begins with the arrival of 4,000 Chinese gold prospectors in the way to the Cariboo in 1860. Established Chinese merchants from San Francisco arrived in Victoria to supply, provision and accommodate these miners and found the only area available for settlement to be north of Johnson. The British doctors and professionals lived on hillsides, the Hudson’s Bay employees on Humboldt, and Jewish merchants on Johnson. Three rickety footbridges crossed the ravine at Douglas, Government, and Store streets providing difficult pedestrian access at night when many carousers missed their footing on the way to or back from play.
The permanent population of Chinatown during the 60’s and 70’s was very small (200 - 400) and consisted mainly of merchants who by 1862 had obtained 11 trading licenses. Kwong Lee’s import/export firm ranked second only in assessment to the Hudson’s Bay Company! The merchants not only provisioned and accommodated these miners, but also acted as their bankers and helped maintain contact with their families. They also arranged for Chinese laborers to arrive in Canada and if they died here they would send their bones back to the homeland. Also, the Chinese goldseekers did not hit the gold trails with the white man, but arranged their own separate expeditions. Thus, contact with the Occidental was minimal. Unlike the Indian and the blacks, who were well tolerated at this time, the Chinese were unwelcome from the outset. It was great sport to pelt a “Chinaman” or pull at his pigtail as he was trotting by. Nonetheless, by the late 70’s, when the CPR and the E&N railways were being built, Canada was only too happy to import Chinese labour. It was at this time that Chinatown’s population began to grow in leaps and bounds. Cormorant Street was its commercial centre and behind the buildings’ facades stood numerous wooden shacks or tenement buildings where most Chinese lived. One of the earliest buildings on Cormorant is today the oldest building in Market Square. The structure at 592 Pandora was built in 1875 for Kwong Tai Lung & Co., one of the largest Chinese merchant houses in Chinatown. (See addendum on Origin of Buildings of the Market Square complex.) By 1882 the Chinese population had soared to some 4,000 of which only 400 were women and one third of these were prostitutes. The Chinese viewed Canada as a place of work to be left when one had earned enough, or from which one could send money to relatives at home who were, in most cases, enduring the worst of poverty. It was a bachelor society and so naturally, gambling, drinking and prostitution were rife.
The self imposed isolation of the Chinese community and the lack of understanding on both sides regarding the other’s culture and language created a total impasse. Indeed, the host society was blatantly prejudicial and unwilling to help the Chinese integrate in any meaningful way. Rather, legal measures were enacted in the hope of controlling the population. The Chinese Tax Act passed in 1878 required that a Chinese resident pay $10.00 every 3 months in order to retain his residency permit in British Columbia. This measure was replaced after Chinese workers went out on a general strike. A more viscous measure was the adoption of the Cubic Air by-law (1899) which stipulated that 383 cubic feet of airspace per resident in each dwelling was required.
It was felt that pestilence was caused by overcrowding and so Chinatown was raided and 175 residents were arrested. The jail could not contain so many violators and the law was subsequently dropped. Not surprisingly, many Chinese decided to return home after the completion of the railways.
Many, however, chose to remain even though extremely low wages ensured them the worst standard of living in Victoria. A Royal Commission Report of 1884 reveals that fully half of the Chinese labour force was engaged in gardening, bootmaking, and washing activities; 20% were shop employees, cooks and domestics, and the remaining 20% were new arrivals with no fixed occupations. The poverty and harsh living conditions left Chinatown with the highest death rate in North America (17.6 per 1,000). The Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, formed in 1885, discouraged further arrivals from China as only a “sea of sorrow” awaited them. Consequently, the Chinese population began to decrease. However, Chinatown now had families and children and the first Chinese School in Canada was established in 1892 on Fisgard Street. However, it was not until 1924 that the first Chinese child was admitted to public school in Victoria. By then, Canada had denied entry to Chinese immigrants (1923) and the Chinatown in Victoria began to wither.
The opium trade was probably the biggest contributing factor in Canada’s decision to deny entry to Chinese immigrants. Chinatowns had always been viewed as dens of iniquity, and opium smoking as the most depraved of activities. However, indulgence in this addiction rarely spread outside of the Chinese community. (In Victoria at the height of legal opium production in 1885, only 6 Caucasian addicts were reported.) Moreover, the production of opium was one of the most profitable businesses in Victoria during its boom years of the 80’s and 90’s! The United States had banned the production of opium in 1887, thus Chinatown in Victoria became the main supplier for North America. Smuggling opium into the United States via the waterways of the San Juans was remarkably simple. It also enabled some 12 merchant families to become extremely wealthy, which permitted them to buy real estate and become owners, rather than tenants. Opium production was always an economic activity in Chinatown and it supplied the local Chinese users and a ready market in American Chinatowns as well. Crude opium from India was exported to Hong Kong, where it was shipped to Canada and the United States. During the 1860’s and 1870’s, Tai Soong and Kwong Lee were the two largest importers and manufactures in Victoria.
Behind their stores on Cormorant Street, the manufacturing was carried out in small sheds. Balls of crude opium were cooked in boiling water for about twelve hours (smelling exactly like potatoes!) until they were converted into jelly form and then canned for sale. By 1884, there were 6 opium factories and by 1887, (when the U.S. banned production) there were 13 factories in operation in Victoria’s Chinatown producing some 90,000 pounds of opium annually. In 1890, Hip Lung & Co., an opium merchant, leased space in the new building at 515 Pandora which today forms part of the Market Square complex. (See addendum on the origins of the buildings at Market Square.) The opium trade began to decline after the City of Victoria imposed heavy business taxes in response to the general anti-opium movement spreading across Canada. A total ban was imposed in 1907 and a lucrative industry ended.
By the 1890’s, the commercial centre of Chinatown had moved to Fisgard as the Chinese community was moving northwards. The boom of the ‘80’s saw Occidental interests move into the Johnson, Wharf and Store Street areas, squeezing out numerous Chinese residents and businesses, mainly laundries, and a Chinese theatre which were replaced by the Queen’s Hotel (across from Market Square at Store Street) and other concerns owned by “white” Victorians. Whereas in 1885 there were many Chinese residents in the Government-Johnson-Store-Cormorant Street quadrant, by 1909, only Cormorant Street had Chinese living in the mixed residential and commercial buildings. The Chinese were less visible than ever before, and very few non-Chinese ever ventured into Chinatown.
Chinatown began its serious decline in the 1920’s. The Exclusion Act of 1923, the choice of Vancouver over Victoria for the Chinese immigrant once the Act was repealed, and the movement of the Victorian Chinese into other areas of the city left Chinatown deserted and derelict. Its soul was gone and the “other” Victoria had also died.
The Revitalization of Old Town
Victoria’s “golden years” ended with the outbreak of World War I and with the exception of the late 30’s and the Second World War when the city enjoyed an economic revival of sorts, the city languished and withered. By the 1950’s, the downtown core was dying and Chinatown and Old Town were in complete decay. Vancouver had long since taken over as the province’s industrial and commercial centre, and, in fact, was supplying Victorians with most goods and services.
The solution seemed to once again lie in tourism and in continuing to attract “retirees” from other parts of Canada and the United States. In order to revive the downtown core, the City encouraged the construction of numerous multi-residential buildings and so the 1960’s saw the city’s physical appearance change radically. However, by the early 1970’s, these changes were not well received by many Victorian residents, who like many other city dwellers in other parts of North America, were dismayed by rampant and uncontrolled development, lack of parks and green spaces, and the demolition of historically significant properties. Neighborhood associations pressured by the city to curb development by toughening up their re-zoning procedures and in 1973 a Heritage Society was formed to identify and protect historical and architecturally important buildings.
In the 60’s, the city also began to aggressively promote tourism. It was recognized that the city’s former allure must be restored in order to attract more visitors. The insightful majority provided by Peter Pollen spearheaded the move to restore and revitalize Old Town and the stunning rehabilitation of Wharf Street and Bastion Square was undertaken. In 1976, the Market Square complex was created by encompassing the historic buildings of Lower Johnson Street, Pandora Street and Store Street. The complex offered an exciting blend of office and retail with its inner courtyard providing unique shops and restaurants in a “frontier” setting. Bastion Square and Market Square were both awarded Heritage awards. The Inner Harbour had also been beautified and Government Street was transformed into a boutique lined “olde England” mall. Also, at this time, the Heritage Society spurred the mission to rehabilitate Chinatown, a Herculean chore which may have proved impossible, but for the vision and dedication of David Lai, a professor of geography at the University of Victoria. He was able to mobilize and motivate the Chinese community into participating in the revitalizing process which, together with private and public contributions, resulted in a very stunning and successful effort. Once again, the streets bustled with shops and restaurants attracting both tourists and residents. The Gate of Harmonious Interest built in 1981 at the entrance to Chinatown beautifully symbolizes the co-operation at long last between East and West.
The restoration of Old Town and the resurrection of Chinatown have been integral to the success of the tourism sector in Victoria. Figures for the years 1971 - 1981 reveal that employment in tourist related businesses exceed that of any other sector.
Today, tourism is the second highest source of revenue for British Columbia with Victoria being a favored destination. The city’s tourism rate exceeded record levels in 1989 and will continue to soar as the century closes. The year 2000 will see tourism as the largest industry in the world.
The enchanting Victoria of the Jubilee Years and the Edwardian era did not die. It just took a little rest. The Chinese who gardened and landscaped the city’s mansion estates would today be amazed at the busload of tourists viewing these same gardens admiringly. The “Chinaman” from Cormorant Street would marvel that Fan Tan Alley was still across the way and that it spills into a glorious Chinatown... Giacomo Bossi would be thrilled that The Paradise Bar & Grill and Sweetwaters Niteclub at Market Square are the hotspots in town! The fort inhabitants would be gratified to see that they were not forgotten in Bastion Square. The restoration of Heritage Victoria continues unabated, delighting both tourists and residents, and it is hoped will lead Victoria into another golden era!
The Bossi Family
Victoria was founded on the blood and sinew of many races. British blood predominated, but among the pioneers were Americans, Germans, French, Swiss, Austrians and Italians. The history of Old Town is inextricably linked with that of the Italian Bossi family. Carlo and his brother, Giacomo, were prominent in the spectacular development of the Old Town area in the 1880’s. Victoria’s economy was burgeoning and expanding as never before (or since!) and the city was splitting at the seams supplying sealers, sailors, ships and Klondike Gold-diggers. The opening of the E & N Railway terminus on Store Street and highly profitable opium industry, most of which was manufactured on Cormorant Street, made this area of town extremely interesting to develop. The Bossi brothers, who arrived penniless to Victoria some twenty years earlier, had gone on to make their fortune in the retail grocery business in the 1860’s and 70’s and now began to invest in property and buildings. Gino Bossi’s Grand Pacific Hotel, erected in 1880 at the corner of Store and Johnson was hailed as one of the handsomest hotels in the city and today is part of the historic Market Square complex in Victoria. The very popular Paradise Bar & Grill now occupies what was Gino Boss’s famous saloon which sported the longest bar in town! Carlo Bossi build a hotel at the corner of Pandora and Blanshard which still stands today and is the site of the Alexandra Apartments.
By the time of their deaths (Gino in 1893 and Carlo in 1895), the Bossi family was much esteemed by the Victoria establishment and recognized as one of the leading pioneering families in the city.
The Bossi story is really the story of Victoria. The Gold Rush of 1858 was a magnet for adventurers and fortune-seekers from all over the globe, many of whom were charmed by Victoria and decided to remain and forge new lives in the Paradise they had discovered. In 1854, Carlo Bossi, a marble-cutter in Lombardy, disillusioned with life in his country which was now under Austrian rule, and dismayed by his probable conscription into the Austrian army, left to seek his fortune in North America. He went to New York City where he had relatives and stayed four years, but finding life difficult there, he set out to San Francisco. A year later that city was frenzied with excitement over the gold finds on the Fraser River and so Carlo joined the thousands of prospectors clambering aboard steamships heading for Victoria and in 1859 Carlo found himself deposited on the shores of Esquimalt. The family legend has it that Carlo carried a sack of flour and a pan, and that on his seaside walk to Victoria, he stopped to make pancakes. As he was eating, an abandoned canoe floated by and so Carlo fashioned a paddle and oared to the foot of Yates Street where he heard much hammering. Fortuitously, the commotion was the construction of the Bank of British North America which was running into difficulty as no one was able to cut marble and so Carlo, the marble-cutter from Lombardy, was hired on the spot. Before long, Carlo was able to continue on to the Cariboo in search of gold. He was one of the lucky ones; he hit pay-dirt and returned to Victoria which he decided would be home. In 1863, he sent for his brother Giacomo, who was still living in the family home in Lombardy. The brothers decided that the opportunity lay in food retailing and with Carlo' Cariboo money, they opened a grocery store at the corner of Johnson and Store. Imported Italian wines, specialty foods, and exotic spices soon drew a large clientele and business was booming. More members of the Bossi family arrived from Italy. Nephew Alfred Bossi opened his own grocery retail business at 185 Johnson. In 1857, Carlo married Petronella Medina of Esquimalt in what was the first Italian marriage in the colony. The Bossis at this time began to acquire real estate throughout the city. They appear to have weathered the terrible recession of the seventies and were well poised with the real estate holdings to meet the incredible boom of the 80’s in which they played a significant role, specifically in the development of Johnson and Pandora Streets.
Carlo built himself a home on Blanshard and Cormorant and was able to retire “with a competency” (meaning he was a “millionaire”!) In 1885, Giacomo built his residence at 1009 Johnson Street. It still stands today and is a fine example of the Victoria Italianate, but is in a state of disrepair.
However, the home is designated as a Heritage building and perhaps it will one day be restored. Giacomo was the more flamboyant brother and really loved donning his white apron and greeting his customers at the Grand Pacific Hotel bar. Carlo was described as “a man of few words”, of average intelligence, sound common sense, tenacity of purpose, faithfully serving his adopted country with zeal and “unaffected modesty”. Giacomo’s death of heart disease in 1893 and Carlo's' death in 1895 were much mourned by the community. Both were buried at the Ross Bay cemetery and elaborate memorials made of marble were erected over their tombstones. Giacomo left a widow, two daughters and a son, whereas Carlo had no children. His wife married an Italian gentleman a year after his death which must have caused a scandal as at her death she was not buried along side Carlo even though her name had been engraved onto the memorial. The Bossi family did not figure as prominently in later years, but they are still in Victoria. This year’s telephone directory lists an Alfred Bossi residing at 3308 Quadra (opposite the famous Italian Bakery!). Documents at City Archives reveal that this property was purchased in 1925 from Thomas Plimly by Louise Caroline Bossi who was married to Calvin Andrew Bossi and so one can assume that the family has been in this home since that year, and that they were proud of the heritage left to them by a poor marble-cutter from Lombardy who stepped off the boat in Esquimalt in 1859 seeking his fame and fortune.
Henderson’s British Columbia Gazetteer and Directory (1904)
Henderson’s British Columbia Gazetteer and Directory (1904) lists the following businesses for the area which now constitutes Market Square. The address system was later changed.
Johnson Street
26 Grand Pacific Hotel
28 B.C. Junk and Hardware Co.
30 Klondike Restaurant
34 Russ House Saloon
38 Empire Hotel (A. Lipsky, proprietor)
40 Strand Saloon
42 A. & J.C. Clyde, Hardware Store
42 Taxidermist (Fred Foster, proprietor)
44 Hardware (E.J. Salomon, proprietor)
48 King’s Head Saloon establish 1866 until 1917
54 Paint store (E. Tuson, proprietor)
56 Bostwick, barber
62 Kinnaird, tailor
64 Baltimore Restaurant
70 Germanie Saloon
Pandora Street (originally Cormorant)
135 Tai Yung and Co.; opium and manufacturing
137 Hop Sun and Co.; tailors
Store Street (between Johnson and Pandora)
3 Scott and Peden; Flour and feed
9 Tobacconist (August Westoundate, proprietor)
11 On Hip & Co.; tent manufactures
13 Tobacconist (Charles Hancock, proprietor)
15 Eagle Restaurant
17 Light House Saloon (Harry Maynard, proprietor)
Origins of Buildings Now Forming the Market Square Complex
516 Johnson Street
Built in 1882 in the Italianate style for Giacomo Bossi
Architect unknown.
522 - 28 Johnson Street
Built in 1888 in the Italianate style for Giacomo Bossi
Architect unknown.
546 - 48 Johnson Street (Milne Building)
Built as the Senator Hotel (1891), this structure was designed by architect Thomas Hooper for A.R. Milne. Milne, a part-time developer, was a one-time custom agent appointed in 1890 as collector of customs, registrar of shipping and controller of Chinese entry into the Port of Victoria. The building in typical of its period, featuring prominent arched bays flanking a larger central entrance. It was restored in 1976 by Fort Victoria Properties as part of the Market Square Complex.
Currently designated as a Heritage building.
556 Johnson Street
Built circa 1884 in the Italianate style for the B.C. Land and Investment Corporation.
Corner of Johnson and Store Street (Grand Pacific Hotel)
Built circa 1880 for Giacomo Bossi. It was never famed for any special architectural treatment, but in its heyday the hotel sported the longest bar in Victoria. However, the B.C. Directory for 1882-83 describes the three story building as the handsomest in Victoria. Additions were built in 1884 and 1887.
1425, 1435 1455 Store Street
Built in the Italianate style. Architect unknown. Home to Grand Pacific Hotel (G. Bossi) and the Caledonia Saloon (J.A. Ritchie and A. Weber, proprietors)
515 - 527 Pandora Street
Built in 1895 in the Italianate style by Thomas Hooper for Joseph Carey and Carlo Bossi. Built as a series of small shops with living accommodations above, this block is typical of Chinatown development during the nineties. The bracketed iron balconies are probably original. After stringent fire regulations banned wooden verandahs, the iron balcony was chosen as a less expensive alternative to the built in second storey balcony. In 1890, one of the tenants of this row of shops was Hip Lung & Co., Opium Merchants. The building was restored as part of the Market Square complex. Pandora Street takes its name from a former survey vessel, the Pandora. But the street was originally called Cormorant and was only changed after 1905.
529 Pandora Street (formerly 27 Cormorant Street)
Built circa 1875, this in one of the earliest buildings in the area. This structure has a long association with the Chinese wholesale grocery trade and its first owner was Kwong Tai Lung & Co. It was one of the largest Chinese merchant houses which dominated Chinatown commerce. The facade is Italianate, the first storey is arched and there is a central door on the second floor which would originally have opened onto a wooden balcony.
Bibliography
Baskerville, Peter A. Beyond the Island: An Illustrated History of Victoria. Burlington, Ont.: Windsor Publications, 1986.
Carr, Emily. Growing Pains: An Autobiography. Toronto: Irwin Publishing, 1946.
Gregson, Harry. A History of Victoria 1842 - 1970. Victoria: The Victoria Observer Publishing Co. Ltd., 1970.
Gould, Ed. Only in Victoria You Say? Victoria: Cappis Press Ltd., 1982
Kluckner, Michael. Victoria: The Way it Was. Vancouver: Whitecap Books Ltd. 1986
Lai, David C. Chinatowns: Towns within Cities in Canada. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1988.
Morgan, Roland and Emily Disher. Victoria Then and Now. Vancouver: Bodima Publications, 1977
Pethick, Derek. Summer of Promise: Victoria 1864 - 1914. Victoria: Sono Nis Press, 1980.
Pethick, Derek. Victoria: The Fort. Vancouver: Mitchell Press 1968.
Reksten, Terry. More English that the English: A Social History of Victoria. Victoria: Orca Book Publishers, 1989.
City of Victoria Central Area Heritage Conservation Report. This Old Town. Victoria. Revised Edition December 1983,
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