1958:

With a last-minute provincial subsidy denied by the provincial government, ferry service between the north shore and Vancouver is officially cancelled after 55 years.

“This is it. That’s the end of the ferries,” says North Vancouver Mayor Frank Goldsworthy.

North Vancouver Ferry Service has been in decline since the early 1950’s, and with the construction of both the Lions’ Gate and the Second Narrows Bridges, a number of vessels have already been decommissioned or sold to keep the company afloat. Ferries have been running across Burrard Inlet since 1903, collecting large profits up until the end of World War II (with the busiest year being 1943, where an estimated 7 million passengers were carried across the inlet).

The final sailings (by North Vancouver No. 4) will take place later in the same day, ending any form of ferry service to the North Shore until the introduction of the SeaBus in 1977.

“They have to take both the losses and the profits, too,” an unnamed provincial official is quoted by The Province as saying. “Furthermore, it is not a case of a single service. There are still two bridges across Burrard Inlet and it is quite obvious the public prefer those, anyway.”

 

IMAGE: North Vancouver Ferry No. 4, two days after its final voyage, circa 1958. Image Courtesy of the Vancouver Archives. Image Copyright City of Vancouver.