In 1886, Vancouver's first City Council petitioned the federal government to lease a thousand acres of a largely logged peninsula for park and recreation purposes. On September 27, 1887 Stanley Park was officially opened and became Vancouver's first official green space.

An exhibition at the Vancouver Museum celebrates the park's 120th birthday and aims to shed some light on what curator Joan Seidl calls puzzling blind spots in our romance with the park. The exhibition is on until mid-February 2009.