Ralph Block

The value of the Ralph Block lies in its location in a cluster of three- and four-storey early commercial buildings. Together they represent the patterns of retail shopping and services around the turn of the twentieth century in Vancouver. Although the fashionable shopping area moved to the south and west in the 1920s, West Hastings Street still continued to be viable as a blue-collar retail strip. Smaller businesses flourished as they catered to the shoppers drawn to the larger outlets, as well as to the needs of the local residents.

Built in 1899 for merchant William Ralph by architects Parr and Fee, this building is an unusual local example of the use of cast iron in commercial buildings. Although not as elaborate as examples in New York, the use of brick piers enclosing cast iron mullions is notable. Ralph was a wholesaler and retailer who sold McClary stoves, ranges and furnaces, as well as Cleveland and Rambler bicycles, but he was also a bridge builder who specialized in iron structures for the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Dominion Bridge Company. The use of cast iron allowed for larger windows than the norm. This treatment, although with brick spandrels, is also found on the adjacent Henderson Block.

The building is best known as the home of the White Lunch Restaurant from 1913 to 1988. This blue-collar eatery, popular with the truckers who carried dairy products and farm produce from the Fraser Valley for distribution throughout the downtown area, survived several economic cycles but was unable to overcome the serious downturn in the late 1980s. Upstairs from the restaurant, the White Palace Rooms, provided affordable accommodation for those who could not make the return trip with their trucks.

The Ralph Block has been combined with its neighbour, the Henderson Block (122 West Hastings Street) as one commercial outlet, through the removal of a common wall.