The first known non-native settler in the area was a surveyor in the British military. William Rowling received the only military land grant in Vancouver for his service to the British Empire. It did not take Rowling and his family long to own all of the Killarney s riverfront land, a 3.5 kilometer long that stretched along the Fraser River shoreline.
Killarney, however, grew by leap and bound with the establishment of the interurban line in 1891. From 1892 to 1929, Killarney was part of the District of South Vancouver . However, in 1929, Killarney unites with the City of Vancouver . The name Killarney was brought about with the development Killarney Street after a new high school and a community centre were built in the area. The place was later called Killarney.
Killarney’s development came in later than most of Vancouver’s neighborhood. Unlike other areas where vintage homes and houses are often lined up in particular streets or block, heritage houses in Killarney are scattered.
