3738) "Hogan's Alley", Canada: "Commemorating Black History Coin Series": Seventh Coin in the Series: A 1 oz. Fine Silver Coin released by the Royal Canadian Mint: Date/Year of Coin Release: 2/2025:
Hogan’s Alley was a Vancouver, British Columbia, neighbourhood that was home to multiple immigrant communities but was known largely for its African-Canadian population.
The name “Hogan’s Alley” was not official, but was the popular term for a T-shaped intersection, including Park Lane, and the nearby residences and businesses at the southwestern edge of Strathcona.
The neighbourhood was ruined in the middle of the 20th century with the building of the urban plannig by the city authorities.
Location:
Hogan’s Alley was found between Union Street and Prior Street, and no further than Main Street and Jackson Avenue.
The viaducts, which are two elevated roadways connecting the Eastern Core area to downtown Vancouver, are the remnants of a 1960s freeway system that was abandoned after significant public opposition, much of it from the Strathcona and Chinatown communities.
Through their construction, the viaducts had significant impact on the DTES including the loss of the physical and social heart of Vancouver’s Black community, known as “Hogan’s Alley”.
History:
The first large wave of black immigration came in the 1850s from San Francisco.
They were lured by both the Fraser River Gold Rush and escaping the escalating racism and segregation of Californian society.
Although many returned to the United States after the end of the American Civil War, the British Columbian black population began to cluster in Vancouver as the city became the economic center of the province.
As many black men were employed as porters on the railways, black families began to gather in the East End, where the western terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway was located. The area they settled became known as Hogan’s Alley.
Hogan’s Alley, however, was viewed by some as a problem area for Vancouver.
A 1939 article from The Province stated that “to the average citizen, Hogan’s Alley stands for three things: squalor, immorality and crime.”
So when the City began embracing the ideology of “urban renewal,” it was surreptitiously decided that Hogan’s Alley, alongside Chinatown and parts of the Downtown East Side, would be cleared for an extensive highway system.
And although the highway system never came to fruition due to massive protests from residents, Hogan’s Alley was ultimately destroyed by the building of the Georgia Viaduct.
By 1970, most of the black population had already dispersed throughout Vancouver.
People:
Although Hogan’s Alley was multi-ethnic, it was home to a cluster of black families, a number of small businesses owned by blacks and the only black church in Vancouver, the African Methodist Episcopal Fountain Chapel.
Black communities in Vancouver were a rarity in the early 20th century, but on the edge of Chinatown and surrounded by Strathcona, Hogan’s Alley contained black, Italian and Asian working-class immigrants.
During the late 19th century, based on a recent gold rush and a newly founded law in California that would further oppress and ultimately stop black immigrants from entering the state, roughly one thousand blacks moved from San Francisco to British Columbia.
Further immigration of blacks to British Columbia continued over the next few decades, contributing to the creation of a neighbourhood known as Hogan’s Alley.
Culture:
Nora Hendrix:
Its most famous resident is Nora Hendrix, the paternal grandmother of the musician Jimi Hendrix.
She was involved in the community from the 1920s through to its demise, remaining nearby until the 1980s. She came to Vancouver in 1911 via Chicago and Seattle and wound up in the East End, where many blacks had settled because they found work as railway porters at the two nearby train stations.
Hendrix had a background in vaudeville, and participated in community performances in Vancouver, as did her son, Al Hendrix, Jimi’s father.
Jimi Hendrix Shrine:
The shrine used to be part of Vie’s, where Jimi's grandmother, Nora Hendrix, worked as a cook for many years and lived nearby.
Jimi spent much of his childhood in Vancouver, as his parents often dumped him under the care of relatives. In addition to numerous summer vacations, Jimi even attended school in Vancouver for a brief time.
Vie's hosted a number of visiting black performers such as Nat King Cole and Louis Armstrong. These artists would eat at Vie's after concerts, once the restaurant had closed to the general public. It is believed that Jimi and his cousins would stay up late helping their grandmother serve these famous musicians. After being discharged from the Army, Jimi returned to Vancouver during the winter of 1962- 1963 to practice his music.
This shrine features old pictures and memorabilia of Jimi Hendrix and family as well as of the neighborhood.
Legacy:
Though the area showedalmost no signs of its history from the 1970s through the first decade of the 21st century, recent civic acknowledgement has emerged in the form of spaces such as Hogan’s Alley Café and the Jimi Hendrix Shrine, both at the former site of Hogan’s Alley.
Community groups such as various Black History Month committees, the Black Cultural Association, and the Hogan’s Alley Memorial Project also succeeded in keeping the memory alive, culminating in the foundation of a city-sponsored plaque at the site in 2013. In 2014, the City of Vancouver officially recognized Hogan’s Alley and its Black community in its proclamation of February as Black History Month. That same year, the 63 cent stamp was released to mark Black History Month across Canada by Canada Post. Two hundred thousand Hogan’s Alley stamps have been printed, along with 200,000 stamps of another now-defunct black neighbourhood, Africville in Halifax.
The stamp depicts two former Hogan’s Alley residents, Nora Hendrix and Fielding William Spotts Jr., in front of a painting of Hogan’s Alley
Keeping the memory of Hogan’s Alley alive:
For half a century, it was known to outsiders for its good food and great music, but to its residents, Hogan’s Alley represented community, a place where entrepreneurial spirit and civil activism were woven into the fabric of life.
Vancouver’s first Black community, Hogan’s Alley flourished in the early 20th century when it was home to many Black porters who, through their unions, would later fight to gain recognition for Black Canadians within the labour movement. Women also played a central role in this community, many emerging as prominent organisers and entrepreneurs, operating restaurants and speakeasies that became not only local favourites, but cultural institutions that cemented the area’s reputation as a vibrant hub.
The community was lost in the 1960s when despite protests and resistance, the city began levelling it in the name of urban renewal—a devastating blow to its residents. The displacement and erasure of the Black community in Hogan’s Alley have had long-lasting effects.
The Commemorative Coin:
- Gone but not forgotten, Hogan’s Alley, its rich cultural mosaic, and the many contributions made by its residents—workers and activists, artists and athletes, business owners and community builders—are honoured on this 2025 Commemorating Black History coin.
- Remembering the community of Hogan’s Alley. Crafted in 1 oz. of 99.99% pure silver, this coin brings one the story of Hogan’s Alley, Vancouver’s first Black community and a cultural hub that thrived until its demolition in the 1960s.
- A glimpse of the past. This is the first time Hogan’s Alley has been highlighted on a Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) Coin, and every engraved detail on the coin’s reverse has special meaning.
The Reverse of the $20 (Twenty Dollars) Silver Coin design consists of multiple vignettes that help tell the story of Hogan’s Alley, a once-bustling hub of Black culture in Vancouver.
The reverse design by Canadian artist Kwame Delfish represents the spirit of Hogan’s Alley, Vancouver’s first Black community and a once-thriving cultural hub during the 20th century.
While British Columbia’s provincial flower, the Pacific Dogwood (Cornus nuttallii), lies at the centre, the surrounding images reflect the character and vibrancy of the neighbourhood (starting at the one o’clock position and moving clockwise): a cook at one of the women-owned chicken house restaurants; a Black railway sleeping car porter; a choir representing the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Fountain Chapel, Vancouver’s first Black church; and two different types of dancers, as well as a pianist, saxophonist and singer, all representing the incredible talent that was regularly on display in the community’s nightclubs and speakeasies.
Nora Hendrix, grandmother of guitar legend Jimi Hendrix, lived in Hogan’s Alley, where she co-founded Vancouver’s first Black church, the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Fountain Chapel, in 1918. She later worked as a cook at Vie’s Chicken and Steak House, the most famous of the area’s chicken house restaurants that attracted locals and touring celebrities.
The Obverse of the $20 (Twenty Dollars) Silver Coin carries an effigy of King Charles III facing left.
The peripheral inscriptions are - CHARLES III. 2025. D.G.REX.20 DOLLARS".
As with previous Commemorating Black History coins, the 2025 edition features a maple leaf pattern on its Obverse.
Coin Highlights: Commemorating Black history:
- This is the seventh coin in the annual Commemorating Black History series, which honours the enormous contributions that Black Canadians have made—and continue to make—to Canada’s story. It is an inspiring celebration of resilience, community, innovation and determination.
The specifications of this Coin are:
Mintage: 5,000 pieces; Metal Composition: 99.99% pure silver; Weight: 31.39 g; Diameter/Size: 38.00 mm; Edge: Serrated; Face Value: $20 Twenty Dollars); Coin Quality/Finish: Proof (P); Packaging: Black clamshell with black beauty box; Designers: Kwame Delfish (reverse), Steven Rosati (obverse); Certificate of Authenticity (COA): Includes serialised certificate. The Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) certifies all of its collector coins.
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Santosh Khanna has commented:
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