Archive record · Brewery
Stanley Park Brewery — historic Chilco Street brewery
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Founded
- 1897
- Closed
- 1911
- Archive ID
- TB-YYNAD5PF
- Last checked
- Not yet checked
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From the record
Summary
Status: CLOSED. Ownership as recorded: PARTIAL RESOLUTION — operator, property-owner and company roles remain explicitly separated. Royal is verified operating at 725 Chilco by 1904 and Pass 89 adds direct City Archives/Matthews corroboration that the historic Mackay house was later 'Stanley Park Brewery,' 'Royal Brewing Co. Ltd.' This strengthens Royal/site identity but does not date or characterize the legal handoff. A named brewery employee remains tied through 1909. Exact Royal effective date, City transaction, final brew, licence end, site closure and company end remain HELD.. Address: 725 Chilco Street / foot of Georgia Street near Lost Lagoon, Vancouver, BC (historical address). Historic and modern Stanley Park identities remain separate. Pass 89 strengthens source hierarchy rather than forcing chronology. Major Matthews' City Archives transcription directly associates the same historic house/site with Stanley Park Brewery and Royal Brewing Co. Ltd.; a separate A.P. Horne recollection says George Grant Mackay built the house, sold it, and it was converted into a brewery, but neither source supplies the sale/lease/operator date needed for the Royal handoff. Pass 89 also corrects the proof limit on the later Benson transcription: the visible quoted recollection says the City took the property, notice to move was given and the brewery ceased, but the quote itself does not state 1911; 1911 is the secondary page author's interpretation. City real-property acquisition must still not be collapsed into ownership of the brewery company. Exact City transaction, final brew, licence end, site closure and company end remain unresolved. [Canada Pass 92]
A summary written during research. The sourced facts are in the sections below.
Ownership & corporate history
- Owned by Hose & Allen1902 – 1903
Partly settledCurrent evidence supports this, but the record is not fully resolved.
What the sources say
Directory-based historical synthesis identifies Hose & Allen as proprietors in 1902; specialist brewery history says their lease ended around the 1903 Dyke dispute. Exact legal lease instrument has not yet been retrieved. Source: SRC-CA-1845; SRC-CA-1852
- Owned by Frank FoubertDate unknown
Partly settledCurrent evidence supports this, but the record is not fully resolved.
What the sources say
City archival image explicitly identifies Frank Foubert as proprietor of the Stanley Park Brewery; later lease/operator and ownership-at-closure chronology remains unresolved. Source: SRC-CA-1838
Ownership history is kept as dated events, so a change of owner never overwrites the one before it.
The Museum
Timeline
- 1897Foubert at the Laird of Capilano's house
The brewery stood "at the Coal Harbour end of Robson Street where it meets Lagoon Drive", in G. G. Mackay's former family home. West End Vancouver: "In 1897, Belgian pioneer brewmaster Frank Foubert established Stanley Park Brewery"; What's Brewing doubts both the year (about 1901) and the Belgian brewmaster; the 1899-1900 city directory lists it. Both kept.
- 1900Leased to the Royal Brewing Company
"instead of selling the property and the business, Foubert leased the brewery to the Royal Brewing Company Ltd." — Benson's company from Cedar Cottage (cedar-cottage-brewery, TB-FWSKE0RK), which then brewed here (British Columbia History, 2013, from the 1944 Matthews interview). When the lease began: UNKNOWN.
- 1908Sold to the city through Jake Grauer
After Foubert's death his widow Charlotte kept the lease until 1908, when Jacob 'Jake' Grauer bought the land from her for $16,000 and sold it a day later to the City of Vancouver for $23,000.
- 1909Ceased by 1909 — the record's 1911 is kept beside it
"Production was slowed after the sale and by 1909 the brewery ceased operations." The building was demolished and the land became part of the park. The Cedar Cottage / Royal Brewing Co. move to this site, held on cedar-cottage-brewery, is not dated by this source.
The People
Behind the beer
City Archives verifies Foubert as proprietor in 1897. Census/directory-based and specialist historical research identifies him as Ontario-born of French descent and distinguishes him from brewmaster John Dyke; the evidence does not support the later 'Belgian brewmaster' characterization.
Directory-based historical research places Dyke at Chilco Street working as a brewer in 1898; specialist and scholarly-summary sources identify him as the historic brewery's brewmaster through multiple operator stages.
Secondary historical reconstruction says ownership passed to Frank Foubert's widow Charlotte after his 1903 death and that she retained lease income; the 1903 newspaper transcription independently says the brewery was property of the estate and had recently been leased.
Directory/newspaper-based historical research states Gartley was employed by Stanley Park Brewery from 1907 through 1909; in 1910 he was with Thorpe & Company and in 1911 he was a teamster. This supports a last-positive employment marker, not an exact brewery closure date.
Straight answers
Common questions about Stanley Park Brewery — historic Chilco Street brewery
- Is Stanley Park Brewery — historic Chilco Street brewery still open?
- No. Stanley Park Brewery — historic Chilco Street brewery has closed (1911).
- When was Stanley Park Brewery — historic Chilco Street brewery founded?
- Stanley Park Brewery — historic Chilco Street brewery was founded in 1897 in Vancouver, Canada.
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