Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All Canada British Columbia Vancouver Leg-In-Boot Square

Leg-In-Boot Square

This mundane shopping plaza is named after a gruesome piece of flotsam.

Vancouver, British Columbia

Added By
Eric Grundhauser
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
Leg-In-Boot Square   Stephen Rees on Flickr
Signpost at Leg-In-Boot Square   CatAshbee / Atlas Obscura User
  Ruth Hartnup
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Looking about as innocuous as can be, Leg-In-Boot Square in Vancouver, British Columbia gets its name from a century old mystery that the police at the time dealt with in the laziest and likely the most disgusting way possible. 

As the story goes, in 1887 a full half of a human leg washed up on the shores of nearby False Creek, still wearing its boot. Baffled by the severed extremity, the constables seemingly decided that rather than pounding the pavement trying to find its owner, they would simply spear the leg on a pike and leave it outside the precinct office in case the owner came looking for it. Unsurprisingly, the lost leg was never claimed and after two weeks was assumedly thrown out or simply given to a stray dog in keeping with the police's disinterest in expending any man hours on the project. 

The police station that once sat in the area is long since gone, and now the spot where the washed-up appendage once sat like a meaty flag is now a cobbled shopping plaza, with a giant musical anvil as a sculptural centerpiece. The leg itself remains unclaimed. 

Related Tags

Wild West Architectural Oddities Architecture

Community Contributors

Added By

EricGrundhauser

Edited By

SamM, weej, paris1801, DeathPartyPodcast...

  • SamM
  • weej
  • paris1801
  • DeathPartyPodcast
  • CatAshbee

Published

August 15, 2014

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://www.abcbookworld.com/view_author.php?id=1856
Leg-In-Boot Square
Leg-In-Boot Square
Vancouver, British Columbia, V5Z 4B5
Canada
49.267272, -123.119148
Get Directions

Nearby Places

'Giants' on Granville Island Silos

Vancouver, British Columbia

miles away

Granville Island Hat Shop

Vancouver, British Columbia

miles away

Science World Station

Vancouver, British Columbia

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Vancouver

Vancouver

British Columbia

Places 37
Stories 11

Nearby Places

'Giants' on Granville Island Silos

Vancouver, British Columbia

miles away

Granville Island Hat Shop

Vancouver, British Columbia

miles away

Science World Station

Vancouver, British Columbia

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Vancouver

Vancouver

British Columbia

Places 37
Stories 11

Related Stories and Lists

The Dark History of Seven Places Branded by Bloodshed

bridges

By Sarah Blake

Related Places

  • Bratislava, Slovakia

    House Attack Bratislava

    We're not in Kansas anymore: the Strabag headquarters has a playful upside-down addition.

  • Hartford, Connecticut

    The Boat Building

    An elliptical glass tower that is known as the world’s first two-sided building.

  • Pátio Victor Malzoni (Google headquarters)

    São Paulo, Brazil

    Casa Bandeirista do Itaim

    Under the towering glass canopy of Google's headquarters in São Paulo's poshest neighborhood, hides a small, charming 18th-century house.

  • Exterior.

    Chicago, Illinois

    The Sullivan Center

    Louis Sullivan’s dark, swirling cast-iron designs envelop a popular department store in this Chicago landmark.

  • The torii arch is out on the shopping street…

    Kyoto, Japan

    Nishiki Tenmangū Shrine

    A 1000-year-old shrine in Kyoto with a poorly planned sacred arch.

  • Rosalie Sharp Centre for Design in the iconic Toronto cityscape.

    Toronto, Ontario

    Rosalie Sharp Centre for Design

    This buzzy, award-winning building hovers 85 feet above the ground on a dozen colorful stilts.

    Sponsored By Destination Toronto
  • The Cathedral Café has been serving it’s community for more than 120 years.

    Fayetteville, West Virginia

    Cathedral Café

    Soak in the sacred vibes at this beloved food and coffee hangout inside a former church.

    Sponsored By West Virginia Department of Tourism
  • West Virginia’s New River Gorge Bridge is the longest steel bridge in the Western Hemisphere.

    Lansing, West Virginia

    Bridge Walk

    In West Virginia, you can walk across the longest single-arch bridge in the Western Hemisphere.

    Sponsored By West Virginia Department of Tourism
Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.