The Yale

The Yale Hotel began in the mid 1880's as a CPR bunkhouse where workers relaxed after clearing land for the new community of Vancouver. On June 13, 1886 an unusually strong blast of wind set fire raging through the city. In less than 45 minutes 1,000 wooden structures were destroyed. The Yale, separated by bush from the main area of Vancouver, was one of the few that survived.

Soon after that dramatic event, the Yale became a popular gathering place for the community. The building was refurbished and by 1889 was renamed the Colonial Hotel. It served miners, loggers, fishermen and CPR workers who trudged up an Indian trail in the woods from False Creek. There was a stable below the street level for the occasional carriage trade.

By night, the hotel became a haunt for the workers and their friends. Yaletown had a reputation for wild nightlife, and the activity at the Colonial was supposedly the wildest. The hotel was named the Yale again in 1911.

Meanwhile, deep in the southern United States, the black culture gave birth to the blues. Rhythm and blues is perceived in many ways. Sometimes glamorous, sometimes heart-wrenching, the blues wound its way through the history of America and emerged as a Canadian tradition at the Yale.

Today, after more than two decades of this tradition, the Yale is the focal point for rhythm and blues in Western Canada. The icons of traditional blues, as well as new talent, come by to play and jam. Pop stars and screen personalities frequent the Yale to hear their R&B idols. As well, the Yale recently built its own precision engineered recording studio. In the basement, where stable boys used to groom the horses, the Yale today records live performances to promote up-and-coming local blues players and to raise funds for charities.