David Oppenheimer
Encyclopedia
David Oppenheimer was a successful entrepreneur, the second mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, and a National Historic Person of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.

Early life

David Oppenheimer was born in Blieskastel
Blieskastel
Blieskastel is a municipality in the Saarpfalz district, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated on the river Blies, approximately 8 km west of Zweibrücken, and 20 km east of Saarbrücken.-International relations:...

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, as one of ten children. His father, Solomon, was a merchant and vintner. David's mother, Johanna (Johanette) Kahn, died when he was four years old. He was educated at the Collegiate School of Frankfurt am Main.

In 1848, after political upheaval and bad harvests, David Oppenheimer immigrated to New Orleans with his four brothers: Charles (Carl), Meyer, Isaac and Godfrey (Gottfried). He studied bookkeeping and worked in a general store. Upon hearing of the California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...

, the Oppenheimers became traders in Placer County, California
Placer County, California
Placer County is a county located in both the Sacramento Valley and Sierra Nevada regions of the U.S. state of California, in what is known as the Gold Country. It stretches from the suburbs of Sacramento to Lake Tahoe and the Nevada border. Because of the expansion of the Greater Sacramento,...

 in 1851 and later Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...

. David then worked in real estate and the restaurant business in Columbia, California
Columbia, California
Columbia is a former California Gold Rush boomtown located in the Sierra Nevada foothills. The central portion of the town is preserved as a California state historic park and a National Historic Landmark that preserves the original, gold-rush-town flavor of the town, once dubbed the "Gem of the...

. Here he married his first wife, Sarah (Christine), in 1857.

Following the decline of the California rush, the Oppenheimer brothers relocated to Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...

 in the late 1858 to establish the Charles Oppenheimer and Company supply business. As the Fraser River
Fraser Canyon Gold Rush
The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, began in 1858 after gold was discovered on the Thompson River in British Columbia at its confluence with the Nicoamen River. This was a few miles upstream from the Thompson's confluence with the Fraser River at present-day Lytton...

 and Cariboo
Cariboo Gold Rush
The Cariboo Gold Rush was a gold rush in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Although the first gold discovery was made in 1859 at Horsefly Creek, followed by more strikes at Keithley Creek and Antler Horns lake in 1860, the actual rush did not begin until 1861, when these discoveries were...

 Gold rush
Gold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...

es took off in 1858–61 the Oppenheimers established stores catering to the prospectors and settlers in the Interior
British Columbia Interior
The British Columbia Interior or BC Interior or Interior of British Columbia, usually referred to only as the Interior, is one of the three main regions of the Canadian province of British Columbia, the other two being the Lower Mainland, which comprises the overlapping areas of Greater Vancouver...

 of the Colony of British Columbia
Colony of British Columbia
The Colony of British Columbia was a crown colony in British North America from 1858 until 1866. At its creation, it physically constituted approximately half the present day Canadian province of British Columbia, since it did not include the Colony of Vancouver Island, the vast and still largely...

 at Yale
Yale, British Columbia
Yale is an unincorporated town in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It was founded in 1848 by the Hudson's Bay Company as Fort Yale by Ovid Allard, the appointed manager of the new post, who named it after his superior, James Murray Yale, then Chief Factor of the Columbia District...

, Hope
Hope, British Columbia
Hope is a district municipality located at the confluence of the Fraser and Coquihalla rivers in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Hope is at the eastern end of both the Fraser Valley and the Lower Mainland region, and is at the southern end of the Fraser Canyon...

, and Lytton
Lytton, British Columbia
Lytton in British Columbia, Canada, sits at the confluence of the Thompson River and Fraser River on the east side of the Fraser. The location has been inhabited by the Nlaka'pamux people for over 10,000 years, and is one of the earliest locations settled by non-natives in the Southern Interior of...

 in the Fraser Canyon
Fraser Canyon
The Fraser Canyon is an 84 km landform of the Fraser River where it descends rapidly through narrow rock gorges in the Coast Mountains en route from the Interior Plateau of British Columbia to the Fraser Valley...

, Barkerville
Barkerville, British Columbia
Barkerville was the main town of the Cariboo Gold Rush in British Columbia, Canada and is preserved as a historic town. It is located on the north slope of the Cariboo Plateau near the Cariboo Mountains east of Quesnel along BC Highway 26, which follows the route of the original access to...

 in the Cariboo
Cariboo
The Cariboo is an intermontane region of British Columbia along a plateau stretching from the Fraser Canyon to the Cariboo Mountains. The name is a reference to the woodland caribou that were once abundant in the region...

, and Fisherville
Fisherville, British Columbia
Fisherville is a classic example of a boom and bust gold rush town that characterized the 1860s in British Columbia. Gold was discovered here in 1864...

 at the Wild Horse Creek goldfield in the East Kootenay. They would later invest in real estate in Lytton
Lytton, British Columbia
Lytton in British Columbia, Canada, sits at the confluence of the Thompson River and Fraser River on the east side of the Fraser. The location has been inhabited by the Nlaka'pamux people for over 10,000 years, and is one of the earliest locations settled by non-natives in the Southern Interior of...

 and the Cariboo
Cariboo
The Cariboo is an intermontane region of British Columbia along a plateau stretching from the Fraser Canyon to the Cariboo Mountains. The name is a reference to the woodland caribou that were once abundant in the region...

. With such a far-flung business, the Oppenheimers soon realized the importance of improving transportation and joined a group which successfully lobbied the colonial government in 1862 to build the Cariboo Road
Cariboo Road
The Cariboo Road was a project initiated in 1860 by the colonial Governor of British Columbia, James Douglas...

 to Barkerville
Barkerville, British Columbia
Barkerville was the main town of the Cariboo Gold Rush in British Columbia, Canada and is preserved as a historic town. It is located on the north slope of the Cariboo Plateau near the Cariboo Mountains east of Quesnel along BC Highway 26, which follows the route of the original access to...

.

Despite business setbacks in 1866 and 1867, David was running the Oppenheimer Brothers warehouse in Yale
Yale, British Columbia
Yale is an unincorporated town in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It was founded in 1848 by the Hudson's Bay Company as Fort Yale by Ovid Allard, the appointed manager of the new post, who named it after his superior, James Murray Yale, then Chief Factor of the Columbia District...

 by 1868 and was a partner in the firm by 1871. The wholesale provisioners company he started with his brothers in 1858 exists to this day as The Oppenheimer Group. David Oppenheimer was active in the Yale business community and entertained visiting dignitaries such as Governor-General Lord Dufferin
Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava
Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, KP, GCB, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, PC was a British public servant and prominent member of Victorian society...

. After over twenty years of marriage, with no children, David's wife Sarah died on October 15, 1880 and was buried in the Jewish Cemetery on Cedar Hill Road in Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...

. Fire destroyed much of Yale
Yale, British Columbia
Yale is an unincorporated town in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It was founded in 1848 by the Hudson's Bay Company as Fort Yale by Ovid Allard, the appointed manager of the new post, who named it after his superior, James Murray Yale, then Chief Factor of the Columbia District...

 in 1881, including the Oppenheimers' store. Since the gold rush had declined and railway construction had moved on, David moved back to Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...

 and opened an import wholesale business with his brother Isaac in 1882. The following year David married his second wife, Julia Walters of New York, in San Francisco. Their daughter, Flora Jeanetta, was born in 1884 in Victoria.

Vancouver businessman and mayor

David did extensive business with the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

 during its construction through the mountains of British Columbia in the 1880s, such as participating in a syndicate with Andrew Onderdonk
Andrew Onderdonk
Andrew Onderdonk was a construction contractor who worked on several major projects including the San Francisco seawall in California and the Canadian Pacific Railway in British Columbia. He was born on August 30, 1848 in New York to an established Dutch family. He received his education at the...

 to construct sections near Yale. Realizing the railway's importance, the Oppenheimer Brothers firm had joined the Vancouver Land and Improvement Company in 1878 to purchase land near its western terminus. David and Isaac Oppenheimer moved to Granville (now Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

) in 1885. They were both acclaimed as aldermen of city council in December 1886, and David became chairman of the city Finance Committee. In 1887 Oppenheimer Brothers opened the first wholesale grocery business in the fledgling city, which still exists as The Oppenheimer Group After the Great Vancouver Fire
Great Vancouver Fire
The Great Vancouver Fire was a conflagration that destroyed most of the newly incorporated city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on 13 June 1886. The fire began as a brush fire to clear land between present-day Main and Cambie Streets that was spread out of control by a strong gale...

, David helped found the Vancouver Board of Trade
Vancouver Board of Trade
The Vancouver Board of Trade is a non-profit organization which seeks to "promote, enhance and facilitate the development of the region as a Pacific centre for trade, commerce and travel." It serves Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in a fashion similar to the Board of Trade or Chamber of...

 and was its first Chairman from 1887 to 1888.

In 1888 David Oppenheimer was acclaimed the second Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 of Vancouver, British Columbia, serving until 1891. During his four one-year terms as mayor many city services were established: the fire department, a ferry across Burrard Inlet
Burrard Inlet
Burrard Inlet is a relatively shallow-sided coastal fjord in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Formed during the last Ice Age, it separates the City of Vancouver and the rest of the low-lying Burrard Peninsula from the slopes of the North Shore Mountains, home to the communities of West...

, the streetcar system and a water connection from the Capilano River
Capilano River
The Capilano River flows from north to south through the Coast Mountains on Vancouver's North Shore and empties into Burrard Inlet, opposite Stanley Park. The river is one of three primary sources of drinking water for residents of Greater Vancouver. The Cleveland Dam, built in 1954, impounds a...

. David advocated city control of utilities and financed these projects by selling city bonds in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. He also lobbied for more parkland, playgrounds, completion of a city hospital and a Jewish section in the city's Mountain View Cemetery
Mountain View Cemetery (Vancouver)
Mountain View Cemetery is the oldest cemetery in the City of Vancouver, British Columbia. Opened in 1887, it is located west of Fraser Street between 31st and 43rd Avenues...

. David focused on transportation improvement again by helping to establish the British Columbia Electric Railway
British Columbia Electric Railway
The British Columbia Electric Railway was a historic Canadian railway which operated in southwestern British Columbia.Originally the parent company, and later a division, of BC Electric, the BCER operated public transportation in southwestern British Columbia from its establishment in the...

 plus encouraging steamboat
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...

 links to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and the northern British Columbia Coast
British Columbia Coast
The British Columbia Coast or BC Coast is Canada's western continental coastline on the Pacific Ocean. The usage is synonymous with the term West Coast of Canada....

. He promoted the British Columbia mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

 industry by publishing a pamphlet in England and the United States, as well as sending product samples to eastern Canada. David also attracted investment from Europe and industries such as the B.C.Sugar Refinery
Sugar refinery
A sugar refinery is a factory which refines raw sugar.Many cane sugar mills produce raw sugar, i.e. sugar with more colour and therefore more impurities than the white sugar which is normally consumed in households and used as an ingredient in soft drinks, cookies and so forth...

 and the Vancouver City Foundry
Foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...

. David did not collect a salary for mayoral duties and entertained official guests at his own expense. However, opponents like William Templeton criticized the overlap between his business and civic ventures.

As a philanthropist
Philanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...

, David Oppenheimer donated land to the city for parks and helped found charities such as the Alexandra Orphanage
Orphanage
An orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable or unwilling to care for them...

 and the Vancouver branch of the YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...

. After fire destroyed Barkerville
Barkerville, British Columbia
Barkerville was the main town of the Cariboo Gold Rush in British Columbia, Canada and is preserved as a historic town. It is located on the north slope of the Cariboo Plateau near the Cariboo Mountains east of Quesnel along BC Highway 26, which follows the route of the original access to...

 in 1868, Oppenheimer donated a fire engine to the local fire brigade. The Oppenheimer family also offered land to the Vancouver Jewish community for a synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...

, the Congregation B'nai Yehuda, which was located at Pender and Heatley Streets in the Strathcona neighbourhood, then the focus of the city's Jewish community (soon after renamed Congregation Schara Tzedeck
Congregation Schara Tzedeck
Congregation Schara Tzedeck is an Orthodox synagogue in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is the oldest synagogue and the largest Orthodox synagogue in the city...

 and since located to Oak Street).

After four mayoral terms, David Oppenheimer decided not to run again because of poor health in 1891. He died on December 31, 1897, of heart failure at the age of 64. David was buried next to his second wife, Julia, in the Salem Fields Cemetery of Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, New York.

Though his material wealth had declined in the Long Depression
Long Depression
The Long Depression was a worldwide economic crisis, felt most heavily in Europe and the United States, which had been experiencing strong economic growth fueled by the Second Industrial Revolution in the decade following the American Civil War. At the time, the episode was labeled the Great...

, Oppenheimer was rich in recognition of his civic contributions. Even the Vancouver Daily News-Advertiser (today's Vancouver Sun), which had been critical of his political career, praised David Oppenheimer as "the best friend Vancouver ever had."

His monument at the entrance of Stanley Park
Stanley Park
Stanley Park is a 404.9 hectare urban park bordering downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was opened in 1888 by David Oppenheimer in the name of Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor-General of Canada....

, in Vancouver, was built with public donations and dedicated on December 14, 1911. After nomination by the Jewish Historical Society of British Columbia, the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada approved the designation of David Oppenheimer as a National Historic Person on April 11, 2008.

On July 12, 2008, Vancouver's Mayor Sam Sullivan proclaimed "David Oppenheimer Day" in the city of Vancouver, to honor this innovative founding father who built much of the city's infrastructure. At a ceremony in Stanley Park, Mayor Oppenheimer's life was remembered during speeches by city officials, local historians, members of his family, and John Anderson, CEO of The Oppenheimer Group.http://vancouver.ca/parks/parks/Stanley/restoration/oppenheimer.htm

See also

  • Oppenheimer Park
    Oppenheimer Park (Vancouver)
    Oppenheimer Park is located in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Opened in 1902 as the Powell Street Grounds by Vancouver's second mayor, David Oppenheimer; it was later renamed in honour of the mayor. The park is bounded by Jackson Street, Dunlevy Street, Powell Street,...

     in Vancouver, British Columbia, was created and named after David Oppenheimer.
  • David Oppenheimer Elementary School
    David Oppenheimer Elementary School
    David Oppenheimer Elementary School in Vancouver, British Columbia, is an elementary school. The school opened in 1959 and was named after one of the early mayors of the city, David Oppenheimer ....

     in Vancouver, British Columbia, was also named after him.
  • The Jewish Museum & Archives of British Columbia http://www.jewishmuseum.ca holds Cyril Edel Leonoff
    Cyril Edel Leonoff
    A civil engineer by profession, Cyril Leonoffs passion has always been for history. He has authored and edited a number of books and papers on engineering and historical topics. He remains one of the preeminent historians on Jewish history in British Columbia. In 1971 Leonoff became the founding...

    's research materials for his Western States Jewish History article on David Oppenheimer.
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