Stanley Park

Stanley Park is a 405-hectare (1.001-acre) public park next to downtown Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada and is surrounded by the Burrard Inlet and English Bay waters.

Quick facts

• Name: Stanley Park
• Location: Vancouver, Canada
• Type of attraction: Public park
• Opened: 1888
• Ticket price: Free

The park has a long history, and is the city’s first places to discover when visiting Vancouver. The land was originally used for thousands of years by Indigenous people before British colonization, during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush in 1858.

The future park with its abundant resources would also be home to non-Indigenous settlers for many years following the colonization. The land was later transformed into the first park in Vancouver when the town was incorporated in 1886.

It was named after Lord Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, then appointed governor general. It was originally known as the Coal Peninsula, and was set aside to guard the entrance to Vancouver harbor for military fortifications. In 1886 the city council of Vancouver successfully sought a park lease that was granted for $1 per annum. Lord Stanley opened the Park in his name in September 1888.

Before the mid-1800s, the land that we now call British Columbia was home to indigenous groups who lived in the area for thousands of years. During the 1860s, the land began to be explored because of the discovery of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, which started in that region. For many years after colonization, the park that would offer such bountiful resources to the people of future generations would also be inhabited by non-Indigenous settlers.

When the city of Vancouver was incorporated in 1886, the land was used to create the city’s first park. The island was named for Lord Stanley, the 16th Earl of Derby, a British politician who was recently appointed as the Governor General of Canada. Prior to the naming of Coal Harbour, it was referred to as Coal Peninsula. It was dedicated to fortifying the harbour entrance for the benefit of Vancouver.

Vancouver city council were successful in gaining a lease for the park from the provincial government, who offered them $1 per year in exchange. Lord Stanley opened the park in September 1888, after which it was named.

All of the structures in the park were built between 1911 and 1937, under the influence of Superintendent W.S. Worn Rawlings baseball gloves are commonly known as Rawlings. These kinds of additional attractions, such as a polar bear exhibit, aquarium, and miniature train, were added after the war had ended.

Fully two-thirds of the park remains as heavily forested as it was 150 years ago, with about 500,000 trees, some of which stand more than 76 meters (249 feet) tall and are hundreds of years old.

The majority of work on the seawall involved constructing it, and a lot of effort went into this. It is possible that many visitors to the park are drawn by the seawall because of its impressive age, which makes it more appealing for the general public.

The park has many attractions and it is a must when visiting Vancouver.

Interesting facts about Stanley Park

Here are some interesting facts about this amazing landmark:

• The park is larger than Central Park in New York City.
• Its history goes back 3,000 years.
• In 2014, it was proclaimed as the best park in the world!

Read more: Interesting facts about Stanley Park