3136 W 12th Ave

Building permits were first issued for this home in July of 1925 with Mrs. B. Jorgenson listed as the owner and contractor. The stated value of the house was $2500.00. It was listed as vacant in 1926, and in 1927, W. Greer, an engineer with the CPR, took occupancy. Greer continued to live at 3136 West 12th Avenue until at least 1955.

More research is needed to verify the details behind the construction of this home and its neighbours (3106, 3116, 3126, 3136 and 3146 West 12th Avenue) in 1925. However, some evidence points to the involvement of George Jorgenson, a carpenter living at either 3066 or 3076 West 11th Avenue at the time.

George Jorgenson was fairly active in house-building both before and after WW1 and appears to have built for others as well as possibly on spec. The original owner of this home, Mrs B. Jorgenson, is likely Birghilde Jorgenson, wife of George. Mrs B. Jorgenson shows up as the owner for various houses that George built.

It also appears that Joseph C. Mathers was involved in the construction of one or more of these houses. He was married to Alice D. Mathers, who was listed as the initial owner of 3116 W 12th Ave. J.C. Mathers had been involved in various aspects of the real estate industry, including sales, property management and construction. He also appears have been involved in spec house construction prior to WW1. His brother was James Bolivar (J.B.) Mathers, who had been the President of Dominion Trust and later Mercantile Mortgage and was very active in the real estate industry (Mathers Avenue in West Vancouver is named after him). At times, J.C. Mathers worked for and lived with his brother J.B. Mathers, and there is some possibility that J.B. Mathers funded the construction of these five houses.

If anyone has more information about the history of this address, please send us a message through the Contact Us form.

Source

COV Archives, ancestry.com, Canada Census, BC City Directories 1860 – 1955, Van Map, Heritage Vancouver Permits Database