OBA PR 231 Larry McCann Papers

Research collection re Uplands & Oak Bay land use & planning history. The bulk of this material consists of copies of archive material, yet to be appraised. Assume material is copied, including most photographs, unless specified original, pending further description.

Biographical information

Box list only - no further details are available yet. This is a very large and recently acquired research collection which requires more detailed cataloguing. Arrangement is Dr McCann's. Initial survey by Liam Dyson for OBA, 2019. Accession 2019/15 Extent: 50 banker's boxes.

Box 1 Victoria Uplands. 10 Binders

  • 1/1 Uplands Olmsted Records 1907
  • 1/2 Uplands Olmsted Records 1908
  • 1/3 Uplands Olmsted Records 1909
  • 1/4 Uplands Olmsted Records 1910-1911
  • 1/5 Uplands Olmsted Records 1912-1913
  • 1/6 Uplands Olmsted Records 1914-1920
  • 1/7 Uplands Lecture Slides
  • 1/8 Newspaper Clippings for the Uplands
  • 1/9 H.B.Co Uplands Farm 1894-1913
  • 1/10 unlabelled binder.

Binders contain research material: photocopies of documents such as correspondence, estimates for the cost of improvements, legal and financial documents, price lists (with acreage estimates) for Uplands lots, photocopies of Dr. McCann’s lecture slides (contains pictures), photocopied newspaper clippings on the Uplands, and copies of HBC documents concerning the Uplands development.

Box 2 Victoria Uplands, 5 folders

  • photocopies of financial documents and correspondence
  • copies of street indexes and lot division maps (for Uplands and South Oak Bay)
  • full page slides; detailed maps of ‘Greater Victoria’
  • statistics concerning Uplands development (architects, original owners, builder, square footage, etc)
  • Uplands brochures and publications
  • government documents (including zoning bylaws and council comments)
  • McCann publications and notes on the structure of his works
  • newspapers and photographs

Box 3 Victoria Uplands 7 folders

  • correspondence
  • photocopies of Oak Bay/Uplands land maps
  • Dr. McCann’s research files such as book searches with notes and published papers (authored by himself and others)
  • documents in binders on Shaughnessy and ‘Who’s Who in Western Canada’

Box 4 Victoria Uplands 5 folders

  • correspondence
  • copies of municipal documents e.g. bylaws and planning commissions
  • photocopies of lot maps and newspaper clippings maps
  • Uplands ads in the Times Colonist
  • notes on the business of Uplands land development;
  • photocopies of research documents and McCann notes (old photographs included)
  • research inventories and letters
  • photocopies of photographs e.g. assessment rolls.

Box 5 Victoria Uplands 3 folders, ca. 300 slides, 100+ photographs

  • Metal box containing information about specific houses (with a photograph included) organized by street name
  • collection of notes on Uplands home occupancy from roughly 1941 to 1971
  • photocopies of zoning maps of Oak Bay and other Canadian cities
  • photocopies of photographs
  • slides of Victoria and Vancouver

Box 6 Victoria Uplands 3 folders, ca. 700 slides, ca. 50 photographs

  • information about specific houses (with photographs included)
  • slides
  • photocopies of house examination documents

Box 7 Victoria Oak Bay 5 folders, ca. 600 slides

  • Engineering documents
  • photocopies of ledgers
  • photocopies of a list of builders of each house
  • binders filled with slides

Box 8 Victoria Oak Bay 7 binders, 1 slide

  • 8/1 Oak Bay Municipal Records (Zoning and Planning)
  • 8/2 Oak Bay Municipal Records (HBCo Farm and Maps)
  • 8/3 Oak Bay Municipal Records (Assessments 1920s)
  • 8/4 Oak Bay Municipal Records (Zoning 1920s-1940s)
  • 8/5 Oak Bay Municipal Records (Uplands 1925)
  • 8/6 Newspaper Clippings on Planning (O.B. Prince G. Vic. Van)
  • 8/7 Mostly Exhibition Grounds 1940s and Old House Conversion
  • 1940s Town Planning Engineer Musgrave
  • Oak Bay Town Planning Committee

Box 9 Victoria Oak Bay 10 folders, 1 slide, ca. 40 photographs

  • copies of land maps
  • planning reports
  • photocopies of Oak Bay catalogues
  • McCann publications
  • photographs
  • book titled ‘The Life and Times of Victoria Architect P. Leonard James’
  • McCann lectures and papers
  • government and legal documents
  • published Oak Bay plans
  • zoning documents
  • correspondence
  • information on individual houses with pictures

Box 10 Victoria Oak Bay 10 folders, 511 slides

  • newsletters, assessments and property records
  • land maps
  • copies of Oak Bay Council documents from 1906-1967
  • census documents pertaining to Oak Bay
  • McCann research notes and papers
  • photocopies from BC Archives and City of Victoria Archives
  • municipal publications
  • correspondence
  • reports on heritage buildings
  • newspaper advertisements

Box 11 Victoria Oak Bay 3 folders 1940-1970...

  • correspondence to the B.C. Land Office HBCo, and others
  • photocopies of Oak Bay maps from the HBC Archives and newspaper clippings
  • envelopes containing McCann research notes, colour/BW photocopies of pictures
  • photocopies of UVIC/Land Use Committee minutes, Oak Bay Bylaws.

Box 12 Victoria 5 folders McCann research files

  • correspondence to request documents, maps, and lecture notes from Geography 440
  • photocopies and handwritten copies of historic home ledgers and lists
  • photocopies of land maps and correspondence
  • photocopies of house files/assessments found within a green binder
  • 1971 Victoria Directory (streets and names)
  • more building cards without assessments

Box 13 Victoria

  • Land maps and plans organized into labelled folders within a brown accordion
  • more components of the 1971 Victoria Directory
  • master list of houses organized by street names
  • photocopies of newspaper stories and other publications
  • small binder with building cards.

Box 14 Victoria

  • Research files with street directories (including owners’ occupation and social class)
  • real estate ledgers and statistics
  • photocopies of land maps
  • 1951 Census (Victoria)
  • McCann notes
  • newspaper advertisements
  • photocopies of correspondence
  • government publications and magazines and brochures
  • Songhees land transfer publications
  • student essays from Geography 490 [closed]
  • brown accordion filled with research files and papers including photocopies of land maps from different time periods

Box 15 Victoria

  • books and other printed publications concerning geography, architecture, and heritage in the Victoria area
  • photocopies of BC government documents & BC real estate documents

Box 16 Victoria Broadmead

  • lists organized by street name, newspaper clippings relevant to Broadmead
  • photocopied land maps and advertisements
  • McCann publications
  • design plans
  • paper prepared for Dr. McCann
  • hand-drawn maps and McCann notes
  • photocopies of government and legal documents concerning Broadmead
  • One green binder labelled ‘Broadmead Farms Ltd Company Records 1965-1999.’ [copies]
  • 2 slides, 8 photographs

Box 17 Olmsted

  • Three binders filled with slides of Olmsted sites in Calgary, the USA, and others
  • folders of photocopied documents e.g. newspaper clippings, correspondence, land maps, ledgers, job files, financial documents, and others dealing with Olmsted projects in Seattle, Spokane, Portland, and other places in the United States (one folder for Quebec City too). Each folder contained the job file and relevant information for an Olmsted project in a specific location.
  • 950 slides

Box 18 Olmsted

  • correspondence, job files, and land maps for American and Canadian projects
  • modern maps of Seattle and Spokane
  • BC Electric photocopied documents
  • McCann research notes and papers by others
  • photocopied photos
  • photocopies of websites

Box 19 Olmsted Projects

  • Book on the Olmsted projects
  • Green journal filled with McCann’s handwritten research notes
  • three black binders labelled ‘FIDIE & JCO Early Years,’ ‘JCO BG1,’ and ‘JCO Collection’ all containing photocopies of correspondence, Olmsted project documents (including a land deed copy), published research papers, and a copy of the ‘John Charles Olmsted Collection’ archival holdings all from the Harvard Frances Loeb Library
  • four red binders ‘JCO A4-10,’ ‘JCO 2931 Financial Misc,’ ‘Olmsted Office,’ and ‘JCO 2931 Biography’ containing
    • photocopies of correspondence
    • description of John Charles Olmsted in 1904 from ‘Men of Mark in Massachusetts’
    • early list of Olmsted parks
    • research publications
    • documents/correspondence re death of John Charles Olmsted
    • financial information for JCO and the Olmsted business
    • Olmsted family history
    • photocopies of maps
    • book titled ‘The Master List of Design Projects of the Olmsted Firm 1857-1979’

Box 20 Olmsted Projects

  • Black journal: McCann research notes/ideas for papers/publications
  • 9 blue binders contain photocopies of documents:
    • Winnipeg,’ ‘South Winnipeg Apollo
    • University of Manitoba Tuxedo Site 1909-1911
    • University of Manitoba Tuxedo Site 1909-1914’
    • Winnipeg Canadian Exposition
    • Myth Money Men M.A. Thesis J.S. Pask
    • Levin - Ph.D. thesis Win Cal Regina
    • Tuxedo Town Council Minutes
    • Tuxedo Park Land Company c.1910-1930

Box 21 Olmsted Projects 7 binders

  • labelled ‘Winnipeg University of Manitoba St. Vital 1913-1914,’ ‘Calgary SMt Royal SumA Br,’ ‘Prince Albert,’ ‘JCO to FIDIE 1907-1908,’ ‘JCO to FIDIE 1909-1913,’ ‘JCO-Sophie Correspondence W. Canadian Projects,’ and ‘Olmsted Archives Library of Congress.’ These binders contain photocopies of documents that relate exactly to the title of each respective binder. All contents in good condition. 7 24

Box 22 H.B.Co [HBC, Hudson's Bay Company]

  • Copy of Masters thesis by Aman Paul Gill titled ‘Staying the Course: Resisting Change in a Planned Middle-Class Neighbourhood’; folder containing typed research notes from McCann; 8 binders containing photocopied material (even the Requisition for Research Copies forms) from the HBC Archives pertaining to the Lansdowne Park Subdivision.

Box 23 H.B.Co [HBC, Hudson's Bay Company] 8 binders

  • photocopied research material (correspondence, land documents, financial statements, newspaper clippings, land maps etc) from the HBC Archives pertaining to the Lansdowne Park Subdivision, Uplands Farm, HBCo Crestview Subdivision, and Lansdowne Slopes.

Box 24 Hudson’s Bay Co 6 binders

  • labelled ‘HBCo:Victoria 19th C Land Sales,’ ‘HBCo Winnipeg,’ ‘HBCo PSA Co,’ (two boxes) ‘GR 441 Premier: Papers on Planning,’ and ‘Lands - BC Govt. Town Planning.’ Photocopies of land maps, ledgers, correspondence, land agreements, and government documents related to town planning etc from the HBCo Archives.

Box 25 Hudson’s Bay Co

  • 3 binders, photocopied documents, 2 printed land maps from the HBC Archives. Continuation of Box 24.

Box 26 MISC

  • Four envelopes photocopies of photos (Canadian cities from the air, Halifax, St. John)
  • photocopies of land maps for Mount Royal Heights in Prince Albert
  • 64 slides
  • 8 binders of photocopies of research papers and newspaper clippings:
    • Hubbard & Kiball Landscape Design
    • Hubbard’s Our Cities Today…
    • Monchow Deed [Helen Monchow, The Use of Deed Restrictions in Subdivision Development, 1928]
    • Jr. Town Planning Institute of Canada 1928-1931
    • Jr. Town Planning Institute of Canada 1925-1927
    • Thomas Adams, Design of Residential [areas; basic considerations, principles, and methods, 1934]
    • Jr. Town Planning Institute of Canada 1921-1924
    • and one unlabelled

Box 27 MISC. University Planning [University of VIctoria]

  • Black journal of McCann handwritten research notes
  • folder photocopied documents on‘Lansdowne Campus’ (former Victoria College and Normal School, now Camosun College)
  • photocopied documents on Victoria College and UVic planning
  • copy of ‘A Plan for the University Area’ , Saanich Planning Department
  • photocopies of research papers on universities in Canada
  • copies of correspondence and land agreements regarding the development of UVic’s campus
  • newspaper clippings.

Box 28 Toronto - photocopies. Documents pertain to subdivisions in Toronto, Vancouver, Halifax, and the Maritime provinces.

  • land maps
  • correspondence and newspaper clippings
  • research papers
  • government documents
  • subdivision reports and ledgers
  • photographs of Dovercourt
  • 44 slides, 10 photographs

Box 29 Point Grey

  • Binders labelled ‘Shaughnessy & U.E.L.,’ ‘Point Grey Harvey Papers - 1924 Local Improvement (3 binders),’ ‘Point Grey Vancouver Archives - CPR in Vancouver.’ Binders contain slides, neighbourhood guide books, photocopies of correspondence, photocopies of government documents, photocopies of newspaper clippings, photocopies from the City of Vancouver Archives. All documents pertain to Point Grey/Vancouver/Shaughnessy. 164 slides

Box 30 Point Grey

  • Photocopies of correspondence; photocopies of handwritten notes; photocopies of financial documents; photocopies of newspaper clippings; photocopies of contracts; photocopies of City of Vancouver documents e.g. notices and reports; photocopies of a plebiscite; photocopies of land maps.

Box 31 Vancouver

  • Photocopies of land maps; photocopies of research papers and McCann notes; small printed map of Halifax; two photographs in a small envelope; BC Studies booklet 1976-1977; newspaper pages; photocopies of correspondence; photocopies of government documents; photocopies of financial documents and financial ledgers.

Box 32 Vancouver

  • Slides; photocopies of aerial photographs in envelope; two binders labelled ‘Shaughnessy Heights C.P.R.’ which contain photocopies of academic journal articles, photocopies from the Vancouver Archives, photocopies of government documents pertaining to Shaughnessy Heights (building restrictions in ‘An Act Relating to Shaughnessy Heights’), photocopy of a speech delivered to the Shaughnessy Ratepayers’ Association, photocopies of correspondence, and photocopies of newspaper articles.

Box 33 West Vancouver

  • Photocopies of architecture and planning journal articles; black leather notebook with McCann handwritten notes; book on the history of the Capilano Timber Company; bounded copy of ‘The West Vancouver Survey of Significant Architecture 1945-1975’; bounded copies of ‘West Vancouver Heritage Inventory’; photocopies of newspaper advertisements, memoranda, and land maps; binder containing a photocopy of a government report; photocopies of correspondence; documents pertaining to McCann’s archival research in West Vancouver; photocopies of municipal reports; folder with glossy photographs; one reel of film; photocopies of house information; bounded copy of ‘Joseph Bentley Leyland Papers Inventory 1989’. 1 reel of film

Box 34 British Properties 6 binders

  • labelled ‘British Pacific Properties West Vancouver, 1931-1932,’ ‘British Pacific Properties West Vancouver, 1933-1934,’ ‘BPP Sentinel Hill Capilano Heights Taylor House,’ ‘British Pacific Properties Corporate Records,’ ‘Parslow “Suspend the Bridge,”’ ‘BPP Bridge.’ Binders contain McCann research notes; photocopies of government documents; photocopies of BPP business ledgers; photocopies of BPP annual reports; photocopies of BC company registration searches; photocopies of the Company’s Act; masters thesis.

Box 35 British Properties 6 binders

  • labelled ‘Company Records: British Pacific Securities & Capilano Estate,’ ‘British Pacific Properties Contract with West Vancouver Municipality 1931,’ ‘Company Records 1st Narrows Capilano Estates,’ and 3 unlabelled. Binders contain photocopy requisition forms from the BC Archives; photocopies of the Companies Act; photocopy of BC Supreme Court documents; photocopies of financial documents; photocopy of handwritten notes; photocopies of ledgers; 5 photos glued onto blue paper; photocopies of correspondence; photocopies of land maps; photocopies of lot subdivision documents; photocopies of assessment ledgers; photocopies of newspaper articles; photocopies of government plans. 5 photographs

Box 36 British Properties

  • Envelope with photocopied aerial photographs; binder containing a photocopy of the biography of AJT Taylor; binder labelled ‘British Pacific Properties West Vancouver 1937-1947’ containing research papers, photocopies of correspondence, photocopies of property restrictions, and photocopies of photographs; binder filled with pages of slides. ca. 250 slides, 4 photographs

Box 37 Montreal

  • Photocopies of newspaper articles; photocopies of land maps; photocopies of magazine articles; photocopies of research papers; handwritten notes; photocopied articles from the Labour Gazette; photocopy of a Montreal field guide; photocopies of correspondence and bylaws

Box 38 Montreal

  • Small box filled with slides and photocopies of land maps; photocopies of articles and academic journals; photocopies of land maps; photocopies of government reports; folder with materials from the national map collection; folders of McCann research materials; hardcopy booklets; photocopies of newspaper articles and old street directories. 10 slides

Box 39 Montreal

  • Photocopies of correspondence; photocopies of planning reports; binder titled ‘Our Olmsted Legacy’ from the National Association for Olmsted Parks conference in 2003; photocopies of job files; photocopies of research papers.

Box 40 Calgary

  • Binder filled with slides; photocopies of research papers; photocopies of images; photocopies of correspondence and subdivision plans; book titled ‘Calgary: An Illustrated History’; photocopies of zoning reports; photocopies of government documents; photocopies of land maps. ca. 300 slides

Box 41 Edmonton

  • Box with film from UBC Library; photocopies of land maps; McCann archival search documents; photocopies of correspondence; book titled ‘Regina: A City of Beautiful Homes’; city planning documents and bylaws; photocopies of ledgers and other financial documents.

Box 42 Edmonton

  • Photocopies of land maps in envelopes; photocopies of research papers on large paper and regular sized paper; photocopies of correspondence and other HBC Archives documents.

Box 43 Winnipeg

  • Two binders filled with slides; photocopies of research papers; photocopies of correspondence; photocopies of newspaper articles; handwritten notes. ca. 280 slides

Box 44 Winnipeg

  • Two binders filled with slides; 5 boxes of film; photocopies of land maps; photocopies of photographs in envelopes; photocopies of correspondence; photocopies of financial ledgers; photocopies of building files; photocopies of minutes of council; folder with documents regarding South Winnipeg Limited; folder with documents regarding the University of Manitoba; photocopies of research articles.ca. 300 slides, 5 boxes of film

Box 45 Winnipeg

  • Folder with Winnipeg house data; photocopies of land maps; building notes and street ledgers; photocopies of correspondence; photocopy of a general index for the Board of Railway Commissioners for Canada; photocopies of newspaper and magazine articles; photocopies of research papers; photocopies of emails; photocopies of government town planning documents.

Box 46 Palos Verdes

  • research notes from a notebook
  • Palos Verdes Los Angeles 1924-1933 et. al.
  • Palos Verdes Los Angeles 1913-1914
  • Palos Verdes Reports Torrance
  • photocopies of job files
  • photocopies of correspondence
  • photocopies of proposed suburb bylaws
  • photocopies of land maps
  • copy of Trust Indenture: Palos Verdes Project
  • photocopies of newspaper articles
  • one larger colour map
  • photocopies of trust and legal documents
  • photocopies of research papers.

Box 47 Maps - Victoria Uplands

  • 23 rolls of maps, some duplication

Box 48 Maps - Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Halifax

  • Large booklet titled ‘Olmsted Landscape Legacy 1903-2003’
  • 24 rolls of maps, no duplication.

Box 49 Maps - Winnipeg Tuxedo

  • 17 rolls of maps, no duplication.

Box 50 Loose Items

  • Two notebooks with handwritten notes by McCann
  • laminated map of Victoria
  • geography calendar
  • two cardboard maps of Victoria.

Oversize items

  • Old photograph of Victoria printed on board
  • copy of 1889 drawing of Victoria printed on board,
  • copy of 1860 painting of Victoria printed on board
  • 6 maps on paper

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