False Creek in the late 19th century was more than twice today's size, and its tidal flats included a large permanent sandbar over which spanned the original, rickety, wooden Granville Street bridge.

[5] Shortly after the creation of the original Granville Street bridge in 1889, the first, unofficial, attempt was made to stabilize the sandbar by driving piles around the perimeter in order to create some free real estate.

Almost 760,000 cubic metres (1,000,000 cu yd) of fill was dredged largely by a man named Alvin Kingston, from the surrounding waters of False Creek to create the island under the Granville Street Bridge.

Equipment Ltd., set the standard by building a wood-framed machine shop, clad on all sides in corrugated tin, at the Island's western end.

During the Great Depression, one of Vancouver's several hobo jungles sprang up on the False Creek flats opposite Granville Island's north shore.

[10][11] The Granville Island Public Market was established in 1979 as a place where farmers and other food vendors could sell to consumers.

It operates year-round in an enclosed facility where visitors can purchase fresh produce, meat, fish and seafood, cheeses and other products, many locally sourced.

There are generally 50 vendors selling a wide range of items, from Mexican, Asian, Greek and deli food to candy and snacks.

In 2014, OSGEMEOS (Portuguese for THE TWINS), consisting of brother duo Gustavo and Otavio Pandolfo, made the concrete silos the site of their ongoing mural project, 'Giants'.

[14] Canada's oldest physical hammock shop, the Hamuhk Hangout Place, has operated on Granville Island since 1995.