After World War I the city of Vancouver gained slowly in size, spreading gradually away from the waterfront. With the start of World War II in 1942, the city started to grow rapidly again.
The Kaiser Shipyards arrive
Although Vancouver had been the site of a modest World War I shipyard, 1942 and World War II brought unprecedented development as nearly 40,000 laborers moved here to work at the Kaiser Shipyards.
Power from the Grand Coulee and Bonneville dams helped win World War II and at the height of production, work never stopped on the ships. By the time the effort stopped in 1946, Kaiser Shipyards had built 10 liberty ships, 30 tank-landing ships, 50 escort aircraft carriers, 31 attack transports, 12 C-4 troop ships, eight C-4 cargo vessels and two 14,000-ton dry docks. That's 141 military ships in less than 44 months.
More people, more housing
The effort spawned the Vancouver Housing Authority and such developments as McLoughlin Heights, Fruit Valley, and Fourth Plain Village. In 1941, Clark County's population was 18,000 people. By January 1944 it was more than 95,000 people as workers swarmed into the area in search of jobs.
Shipyard workers and their families thronged the streets, along with the troops. For many soldiers, downtown Vancouver offered a fling at civilian life before being shipped out to other parts of the world, or a welcome place to visit after duty out of the United States.
During World War II, Clark County's population increased to well over 100,000 people in support of the war effort, with a similar big increase in home construction. Although the population decreased after the war, many of the workers stayed here and the economy continued to do well.
