According to the good folks at the Roundhouse, Yaletown got its name in the late 1880's, when the Canadian Pacific Railway moved its construction equipment and repair shops from their former location in Yale (up the Fraser Canyon) to its new western terminus in Vancouver.
Heritage Vancouver goes on to note that several of the original CPR employees "literally moved house, loading their homes in Yale onto flatcars or barges and setting them on new foundations near False Creek. The community clustered around the CPR's roundhouse and yards at the foot of Davie Street."
Sadly, most of the original houses have long since been destroyed. One home from the area that did survive, however, is the Leslie Lane House, which was originally built as a stable in 1901, and then converted into a home in 1903.
It sat behind the Leslie House (constructed in 1888, now home to Umberto's restaurant), until it was moved from its former location at 1380 Hornby Street to the West End's Mole Hill heritage neighborhood in 2002.
Despite the city's success at preserving these two homes, Heritage Vancouver has named "the houses of Yaletown" as being among the ten most endangered sites in Vancouver for 2005.
For more information, visit www.heritagevancouver.org and select "Top Ten List".
The Vancouver Heritage Foundation has further details about the Leslie Lane House, along with pictures of its 2002 move and restoration here.
