# Source note — Vancouver 1907 Harbeck Reel story

Article: `vancouver-1907-william-harbeck-oldest-film-facebook-reel-source-check.html`  
Date: 2026-08-07

## Lead

User supplied Facebook Reel: https://www.facebook.com/reel/2251366728768597/

Downloaded/captured locally into:
`/Users/macfebruary-20-2026/Downloads/newsforbc-facebook-reel-2251366728768597-20260807/`

Reel metadata from Facebook/yt-dlp identified uploader as **BC Bob** and caption text saying the clip shows Vancouver's oldest known film, shot in 1907; that filmmaker William Harbeck later was hired to film the Titanic's maiden voyage and did not survive; and that the original film plays at the Museum of Vancouver.

## What was independently checked

- The CityReflections.ca project page says the 53-minute feature is based on the earliest known surviving film footage of Vancouver, shot in 1907 by William Harbeck from the front platform of a streetcar through downtown and the West End.
- The same page says the filmmaker William Harbeck died in the Titanic disaster of 1912.
- The Vancouver Historical Society YouTube page for *CITY REFLECTIONS: VANCOUVER 1907 | 2007* says Harbeck captured street scenes on May 7, 1907 from a moving B.C. Electric Railway streetcar and describes it as the earliest known surviving film footage of the city.
- The Museum of Vancouver site was checked for general museum context. The specific Reel claim that the entire original film plays on a loop at MOV was treated as attributed to the Reel caption unless separately confirmed.

## Rights / media handling

NewsForBC did not copy and host the Reel video. The article links readers to the Facebook Reel and to the Vancouver Historical Society/City Reflections source trail. The thumbnail is used as a source-lead/commentary thumbnail only, with attribution language.

## Files

- `video.info.json` — Facebook Reel metadata
- `contact-sheet.jpg` — sampled frame contact sheet
- `transcript.txt` — attempted audio transcription; no useful speech transcript
- `source-checks.json` — structured source list