Black Businesses were HERE!

John Adams is an author, historian, and owner/operator of an historical walking tour company “Discover the Past” in Victoria

Location:  Lower Yates Street, Victoria BC.  Many shops and businesses line the streets, some buildings dating back to the 1800’s.

Interview format:  John is standing on a sidewalk, turned at an angle to the street.   Throughout the video John looks around and/or points at various buildings.  Cars are driving by, people are walking by.

On-screen text: Black Businesses were here!

John: This was one of downtown Victoria’s main commercial streets during the gold rush days of the mid 1850’s and through the 1860s.

There were stores and saloons and hotels along this block, among them were the stores operated by some of the first Black pioneers. Lester and Gibbs had a dry-goods store just down there, and one of the very well-known restaurants that everybody went to was operated by a man named Ringo. His restaurant was across the street and later he moved into a hotel just along this block. And somewhere around here was one of the barbershops operated by Wellington Delaney Moses who later went to Barkerville, but Moses started off here in Victoria somewhere close to where we are here on Yates Street.