One of the joys of working at the RBCM is discovering the unexpected.

For several years, the museum  asked staff to give short “Discover” talks to interested visitors.

While gathering material for these talks, I ran across several photographs of James Bay, which is where the Empress Hotel and Convention Centre now stand.

The one I have posted here (BC Archives G-04837) was taken around 1898 and shows what the present RBC Museum site looked like at the time.

The present legislature buildings can also be seen.

This picture raises some interesting questions.

(1) Where was this picture taken?

(2) What are all those buildings around the legislature?

Contact me at @rbcmexplorer if you think you know the answer.

If you send me a photo link of the present day view of this picture from an online photosharing service, I’ll be happy to post the link!

I look forward to hearing from you!