Hogan’s Alley tours return to teach Vancouver Black history

February is Black History Month, and you can mark the occasion by taking a free walking tour of Hogan’s Alley, a historic Black enclave in Vancouver’s Strathcona neighbourhood.

Shayla Bird, a public historian and the organizer of the tour, says her goal is to bring people back to the area.

“I want them to know about the history of the neighbourhood. And really a lot of the themes that Hogan’s Alley was multicultural, variety of socioeconomic status, strong culture, and community, even just within those blocks, is exactly what Strathcona represents today,” said Bird.

Hogan’s Alley was historically a vibrant community and home to many Black families. The City of Vancouver says it was “displaced over decades by the City’s actions, and finalized by the construction of the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts.”

This year marks the second year that Bird will be running the tour, which she says takes the group back in time, learning about how Black people came to live in Hogan’s Alley in the first place.

“So, the tour sets us around the 1850s and really walks, literally, you to 1972 with the Georgia Viaduct being built and the community being displaced.”

She says the tour also includes an element of the block’s future. Bird says it’s an area still under threat from urban renewal and gentrification.

“With Hastings [Street] being close by, the new St. Paul’s Hospital being built; we just had to fight against the City of Vancouver for them to not put a temporary fire hall station on the corner of Union and Gore. So very much, this neighbourhood is still under threat, and so now we even have to continue staying close together as a community.”

The Hogan’s Alley walking tour runs every Saturday at 1:00 p.m. during the month of February, starting Saturday. Participants can meet at the corner of Gore Avenue and Union Street.