Hogan's Alley, Vancouver

Hogan's Alley was the local, unofficial name for Park Lane, an alley that ran through the southwestern corner of Strathcona in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The alley was located between Union and Prior (north–south) and ran from approximately Main Street to Jackson Avenue (west–east). The area was ethnically diverse, populated by Black, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Jewish, and Indigenous residents during the first six decades of the twentieth century.

thumb|Hogan's Alley, 2006

Home to a number of Black families, Black businesses, and the city's only Black church (the African Methodist Episcopal Fountain Chapel), Hogan's Alley has been referred to as the "first and last neighbourhood in Vancouver with a substantial concentrated black population". Hogan's Alley had a vibrant night life, with eateries and nightclubs that hosted local residents, railway porters, and touring musicians alike.

Most of Hogan's Alley was destroyed circa 1970 by the Non-Partisan Association civic government's construction of the Georgia Viaduct, the first phase of the planned interurban freeway, “Project 200” originally set to run through Hogan's Alley and much of Chinatown and Gastown. The subsequent freeway construction was stopped by the Strathcona Property Owners and Tenants Association, and Strathcona, Chinatown and Gastown were spared from razing, but not before Hogan's Alley was mostly demolished and the viaducts were built. In 2015, the City of Vancouver announced its plans to remove the viaducts and establish a cultural centre in the Hogan's Alley area.

History

In 1858, a large number of Black Californians travelled to Vancouver Island, leaving behind the increasingly hostile racial climate of San Francisco. Their emigration was partially prompted by sailor Jeremiah Nagle, who came from Vancouver Island to a meeting at San Francisco's Zion Church with news of gold and a letter from James Douglas inviting the Black community to British Columbia. Following the 1858 Rush, several of the Black migrants needed a place to live with the little money they had and moved to Salt Spring Island. Many of Victoria's and Salt Spring's Black residents began to relocate to Vancouver around the start of the twentieth century because of the city's promising economic landscape.

At the same time, Vancouver's Black population was growing as Black Albertans (initially from Oklahoma) came to Strathcona and other areas around Vancouver. Many Black railroad porters, members of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, also settled in Strathcona's Black community due to its proximity to the nearby Great Northern Railway, whose route ended in Vancouver.

It was likely during this time (the early 1900s) that the area became known as "Hogan's Alley," a tongue-in-cheek reference to the setting of Richard F. Outcault's popular comic strip, The Yellow Kid. The Hogan's Alley of the comic strip was an ethnically diverse tenement area typical of certain areas of squalor that existed in North American cities of that era.

By 1914, Strathcona's Black community, centred around Hogan's Alley, likely had a population of approximately 300.

Culture

Hogan's Alley was a lively area filled with a number of popular Black cultural institutions. As a result of Mayor L. D. Taylor's governing approach in the 20s and 30s - to focus police resources on major crimes while simply regulating and managing vice crimes - many clubhouses, illegal drinking establishment (Blind Pigs), brothels, and gambling dens operated in the area, as they did in many other areas around Vancouver. Hogan's Alley also housed a red light district prior to Mayor Gerry McGeer's appointment in 1935. The first reverend for the church was an American named Ulysses S. Robinson, and in 1952 the church appointed its first Canadian reverend: J Ivan Moore. Hendrix also recalls one Hogan's Alley resident starting a church choir in the twenties. The choir performed in a variety of different locations, including the Avenue Theatre.

Local establishments

Hogan's Alley and the surrounding area had a number of restaurants and "chicken houses" (often operating as speakeasies). On Union Street was Mother's Tamale and Chilli Parlour, owned by "Mother" Alexander, and Vie's Chicken and Steak House, owned by Viva (Vie) Moore. Vie, whose family was a part of the Black migration in 1858, was born on Salt Spring Island and opened her restaurant at 209 Union Street with her husband Robert in 1948. Vie's Chicken and Steak House stayed in operation (though not by Vie) until 1980. Many Hogan's Alley residents worked at Vie's, including Nora Hendrix. Strathcona resident and day cook Dorothy Nealy recalls that "practically every Black woman in Vancouver" had worked at the Chicken Inn. Nearby, trombonist Ernie King owned the Harlem Nocturne, the only Black-owned nightclub in Vancouver. The Nocturne was located just outside Hogan's Alley at 343 E. Hastings St.

Urban renewal

thumb|The Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts at Main Street, 2010|245x245px

In 1950, Vancouver social scientist Leonard Marsh published a proposal entitled Rebuilding A Neighbourhood, which described the Strathcona area as a "slum" in need of urban renewal. The Housing Research Committee's 1957 Vancouver Redevelopment Study targeted the Eastside as an area of "urban decay" and proposed major rehabilitation. Subsequently, in the name of "urban renewal" and "slum clearance", much of Hogan's Alley was razed at the end of the 1960s to make way for the Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts.Viaduct construction lasted from 1967-1971, and the structures opened for use in 1972. which reached the Vancouver City Council at a public hearing in late 1967. had been developed largely in secret, and its announcement in 1967 was met with major backlash from Strathcona residents. SPOTA was successful in halting the City's planned demolition - but not before much of Hogan's Alley houses had been levelled and viaduct construction had begun. The goal of the Cultural Centre and its programming is to focus on Black Canadian history and community engagement, and its surrounding area will be used for local, culturally-specific businesses.

thumb|225x225px|The Jimi Hendrix Shrine, 2011

Jimi Hendrix Shrine

Though Jimi Hendrix lived in Seattle, he came to Vancouver frequently to visit his grandmother Nora Hendrix, a Hogan's Alley resident. The Jimi Hendrix Shrine was established in the 90s on the corner of Union and Main, in part of the building that once was Vie's Chicken and Steak House. The shrine celebrated the connection between the Hendrixes and Vancouver, featuring pieces of family history and memorabilia. It closed in 2015 when the building was bought for development purposes.

Nora Hendrix namesakes

The City of Vancouver announced in 2019 that they would name a new set of temporary modular housing units after Nora Hendrix. Nora Hendrix Place is located on Union Street and provides a number of different support services for people experiencing homelessness

In 2021, the proposed naming of the "Nora Hendrix Way" was approved by the City of Vancouver as a tribute to the influential Hogan's Alley resident. The street, to be located between National and Atlantic avenues, is close to the Hogan's Alley church that Hendrix helped establish. Although Rosemary Brown does have a laneway named after her, this will be the first official Vancouver street to be named after a Black woman.

Notable residents

Barbara Howard: athlete and teacher.
Ernie King: actor, musician (trombonist), and business-owner. Ernie ran the Hastings Street-based Harlem Nocturne, the only Black-owned nightclub in Vancouver. Thelma, a successful artist, performer and teacher, toured internationally and taught Afro-Cuban dance. The Black Historical Society of BC awarded her a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005. She was an active community member, co-founding the Fountain Chapel and working as a cook at Vie's Chicken and Steak House.

Cultural references

The history of the area and Vancouver's Black community was explored in Cornelia Wyngaarden's and Andrea Fatona's 1994 documentary "Hogan's Alley"
Writer Wayde Compton paid tribute to Hogan's Alley in his poem Rune.
The alley was recreated in virtual form by Stan Douglas in the 2014 interactive work Circa 1948.
The alley was mentioned in the 2014 poem "A Love Letter or Considering Reconciliation in Canada" by Otoniya J. Okot Bitek.
Black Strathcona released a number of historical videos in 2014 highlighting several Hogan's Alley residents. The 63 cent stamp was released in tandem with a stamp paying tribute to Africville in Halifax.
A number of prominent Hogan's Alley residents were honoured in a mural painted by Anthony Joseph on the Georgia Viaduct as part of the 2020 Vancouver Mural Festival.
Jamila Pomeroy's 2023 documentary film Union Street centres on the history of the neighbourhood.

References

External links

Black Strathcona
Hogan's Alley Memorial Project
Hogan's Alley Society
Hogan's Alley Before the Demolition: Images of buildings and streetscapes around Hogan's Alley in the late 1960s, from the City of Vancouver Archives