Marine Ave Sign

Object ID: 2012.65.1

Once the communities of Westview, Wildwood, and Cranberry were incorporated into the municipality of Powell River in 1955, the problem of overlapping street names needed to be addressed. After conducting a study, town planner H.J. Cartwright proposed a way to incorporate each neighbourhood into one cohesive entity, the Town of Powell River. By renaming duplicate and similar sounding streets while giving each property a new four digit address number, the town would have a logical grid navigational system as well as room for expansion.

The plan was executed in 1959, and moving forward delivery drivers would no longer have to wonder which 1st Street they were looking for. To get the new system of street names and addresses running smoothly, town planner H.J. Cartwright personally visited each house and delivered an envelope containing new house numbers and a letter requesting that residents remove the old ones. Drivers and pedestrians were also greeted with brand new street signage to complete the transition.
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Cast aluminum signs, black with silver lettering, marked major thoroughfares, while other intersections were marked by square posts with vertical lettering. This particular sign marked Marine Ave, one of qathet’s busiest streets and part of Highway 101.

ID ND021415-4