Downtown Duncan
Kenneth Street

163 Kenneth Street is now the Sheer Essentials lingerie store.

163 Kenneth Street. Now the Sheer Essentials store.
163 Kenneth Street. Now the Sheer Essentials store.

Additional Information on 163 Kenneth Street

  • Assessed Value (July 2015): $259,000; Land – $156,000, Buildings – $103,000
  • Assessed Value (July 2014): $259,000; Land – $156,000, Buildings – $103,000

A Brief History of 163 Kenneth Street

There is some more interesting early 20th century Duncan history behind the Sheer Essentials store at 163 Kenneth Street. In 1904, Dr. Watson Dykes (1878-1952) moved to Duncan from Nanaimo and became the local physician. When Dr. Watson Dykes first came to Duncan he used a horse and buggy to make house calls on patients. Dr. Watson Dykes stabled his horses in a barn that is still standing behind the Sheer Essentials store at 163 Kenneth Street.

You can access Dr. Watson Dykes’ horse barn through the front patio of the Gourmet Garden restaurant, next door at 161 Kenneth Street. But ask permission from Gourmet Gardens Restuarant first.

Dr. Watson Dykes' horse barn, behind 163 Kenneth Street, downtown Duncan, B.C.
Dr. Watson Dykes’ horse barn, behind 163 Kenneth Street, downtown Duncan, B.C.
Dr. Watson Dykes, circa 1919 (Photo courtesy of Temple Lodge, No.33 A.F.&A.M.)
Dr. Watson Dykes, circa 1919. His horse barn is still standing behind 163 Kenneth Street. (Photo courtesy of Temple Lodge, No.33 A.F.&A.M.)

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