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History of Stanley Park
The area now known as Stanley park was originally home to Musqueam and Squamish First Nations people. By 1886, the area was being used as a military base for the Royal Navy to defend against impending American attack. In 1886 Vancouver's first City Council petitioned the Federal Government to lease 1,000 acres of the largely logged peninsula for park and recreation purposes. In 1887, merely a year after Vancouver become incorporated as a city, the lands were leased from the British government for a symbolic price, and Canada's largest civil-funded park was born. It was named after Lord Stanley, the former Canadian governor general whose conservationist vision made it into a recreational area.By 1913, the Park had become an important tourist destination, drawing 50,000 visitors per week. By 1918, the famous 'seawall' began construction, and reached completion in 1980.
 

Stanley Park Timeline

May 12, 1886
Resolution passed by City of Vancouver Council petitioning federal government to convey parcel of land known as the Government Reserve to the city as a park. This parcel becomes Stanley Park.

June 8, 1887
Resolution passed by Federal Government establishing the Government Reserve lands as a park.

September 27, 1888
Official opening of Stanley Park by Mayor David Oppenheimer

October 29, 1889
Dedication of Stanley Park by Lord Stanley, Governor General of Canada.

1890
Population of Vancouver 15,000.

September 15, 1890
Original Brockton Point Lighthouse goes into service. Present structure completed 1915.

July 1, 1891
Brockton Point Athletic Grounds declared open.

1894
Nine O'clock gun arrives. Replaced the practice of setting off a stick of dynamite at nine o'clock each evening to either indicate closure of fishing or to allow ship captains in the harbour to reset their chronometers.

October 1, 1898
Original Prospect Point Lighthouse goes into operation.

1904
Second Beach established

July 2, 1905
The English Bay Bathhouse is opened.

1909
Ferry service begins to West Vancouver.

1911
Bandstand in Stanley Park constructed eventually the site of Malkin Bowl.

1912
The Stanley Park Causeway is authorized allowing for the later creation of Lost Lagoon.

1913
Stanley Park Pavilion constructed.

1917
First part of the seawall constructed at Second Beach (125 meters)

1919
Lawn Bowling instituted in Stanley Park.

1920
Kiwanis Rose Garden established in Stanley Park.

January 1, 1922
Traffic in Vancouver is switched to the right-hand system.

1923
Vancouver population 100,000

1928
Third Beach established in Stanley Park

1929
Pipes allowing saltwater to flow into what is now Lost Lagoon are shut off turning it into freshwater only.

1929
Hard surface tennis courts established in Stanley Park

May 16, 1930
Sports Pavilion opened, now the location of the Fish House Restaurant.

1932
Stanley Park 18 hole pitch and putt golf course designed and constructed.

November 30, 1933
Approval granted by Vancouver for the building of the Lions Gate Bridge.

1934
Original Malkin Bowl erected in Stanley Park later destroyed by fire and reconstructed.

1936
Shakespeare Garden and Memorial opens in Stanley Park.

1936
Fountain added to Lost Lagoon.

November 11, 1938
Lions Gate Bridge opens.

August 6, 1940
First performance by Theatre Under the Stars at Malkin Bowl

1947
Miniature Railway in Stanley Park goes into operation.

1948
Garden of Remembrance established near Stanley Park Pavilion in honour of airmen in WWII

1961
Vancouver Parks Board headquarters built at the Beach Avenue entrance to Stanley Park.

1980
Final portion of Stanley Park Seawall is completed.