South Cambie

South Cambie is amongst the smallest neighborhoods in the City of Vancouver, British Columbia. In both size and population, it is among the smallest neighborhoods, wedged between the upscale neighborhood of Shaughnessy and one of the biggest parks in the city of Vancouver. South Cambie is well known for its cluster of medical facilities.

The neighborhood of South Cambie is a small narrow strip of land totaling 217 hectares. On the west edge of the district are the exclusive houses of Shaughnessy, whereas Queen Elizabeth Park sits to the east on the slopes of Vancouver's Little Mountain. South Cambie extends from West 16th Avenue in the north to West 41st in the south. It is found between Oak Street and the popular north-south corridors of Cambie Street.

The area gets its name from a CPR engineer, Henry Cambie. In the 1800's, land was given as part of a land grant by the Canadian Pacific Railway. Mr. Cambie was actually responsible for the western division of the railway. In 1874, the very first non-native settlers arrived, when a former gold miner, William Mackie, claimed 65 hectares of land all around a former elk pasture that is now Douglas Park on West 22nd Avenue. Jeremiah Rogers soon followed and was amongst the first people to utilize mechanized logging equipment within B.C. and constructed a road to the top of Little Mountain.

A small portion of South Cambie in 1910, became a Chinese vegetable garden bringing individuals to the neighbourhood. Until the 1940s, much of the land around the area remained undeveloped.

There are various medical facilities: the BC Women's Hospital, Health Centre and BC Children's Hospital and the Shaughnessy Hospital are found within the neighborhood of South Cambie.