Vintage White Rock Paintings

I love history! I have been an antiques dealer for over 20 years, as well as an artist, and discovering the history of things has always fascinated me. I know that many other people share this love… especially the history of places and a longing to know what came before. The Semiahmoo First Nation have been on this land from the earliest times… and obviously there is a lot of lived history here from their people, but I will leave the telling of their stories to someone who is more qualified. I wanted to capture some of the memories of people who grew up coming to this place when it had become a thriving seaside town. The building of White Rock as a city started in approximately 1912 when the Railway Depot was built. The famous pier was built in 1914. People from Vancouver would take day trips to the sea by rail or car. Many families built summer homes on the hillside leading down to the beach. The main street of White Rock is called Marine Drive (formerly Washington Avenue) and operated as the hub of the city for decades with restaurants, theatres, banks, a hardware store, shoe repair, gas stations, bowling alley, dance halls and more alongside the ever-popular ice cream and fish and chip shops.

The first painting I created is circa 1930’s and shows what we locals call East Beach. Today it is the central hub of fish and chip restaurants with a few gift shops and other businesses. In the 1930’s it was home to a Fish and Chips shop (the one pictured to the right of the painting is still operating as Montgomery’s Cottage Lunch. There was also a gas station, meat store and other businesses and homes. If you drive down the street now you can see how many of these buildings are still around, but often transformed a bit or added onto over the years.

The second painting I made shows the central hub of White Rock in the early 1950’s. This is where the pier and train station (now the museum) still stand. You can see the famous Ocean Beach Hotel as well as a few other buildings we still have today. The small buildings near the pier where Uli’s and Charlie Don’t Surf restaurants are now located were here in the 1950’s as well as the big red brick building that was originally built as a Post Office/ Government building. The beautiful white art deco building in the foreground on the left side was built originally as White Rock Theatre in 1927 but was taken over after the war for the Army and Navy Veterans. It burned down in 1956. There was a taxi service beside the railway station during these years, and a small building at the top of the pier which originally was the police station, but went on to serve as various other functions over the years. I tried my best to be true to the era and include many other local businesses, including the butcher, hardware store and drug store.

I have to give a huge Thank You to the fabulous book Years Of Promise, White Rock 1858-1958 written by Lorraine Ellenwood, as well as her son Hugh Ellenwood, who is the current Archivist at the White Rock Museum and Archives. His dedication in sending me many vintage photos of the town was a huge help. There are lots of online resources for old photos and my own collection of antique photos and postcards came in handy too. I tried to cross-check my work from original source photos as much as possible. In the end, my imagination did add a few details but I hope people enjoy seeing our lovely old town brought back to life.

I am working on a few more paintings… so follow me on Instagram,. or check back here to see my progress.

I have prints of these paintings available, as well as pillows and tea towels. Contact me for more details.

Thanks so much,

Jeanne