In December 2014, the HCA was given a unique and generous gift: long-time resident Vassil Zaharik’s photographs of the neighbourhood. These photos provide a snapshot in time of what life in this neighbourhood (crudely known as “Germantown”) was like throughout the 40s-60s.

Vassil was born on the 900 block of 11th Avenue and spent 80 of his 88 years there. He eventually took ownership of the 11th Avenue grocery store from his father. Vassil has been described as the “11th Avenue Archivist” and was very fascinated with life in the evolving neighbourhood.

When Vassil passed away in 2010 some of his photographs have been collected by family and friends. We thank Danny Kresnyak for his donation of just a few of these pictures. They have been set up in our office as we hope to keep some of Vassil’s memory alive.

Please feel free to come by and take a look! We’d also love to see some of your own personal photographs of the area.

Learn More: watch the Global News segment.

Examples:

11th Avenue circa 1958.

11th Avenue grocery store “Capital Groceteria”