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Gassy Jack
Gastown was named for Gassy Jack Deighton and his saloon
Gassy Jack Deighton was a Yorkshire seaman, steamboat captain and barkeep who arrived in 1867 to open the area's first saloon. He was famous for talking at length, or gassing, and the area became known as Gassy's town.
The mill
The town prospered around the Hastings Mill sawmill
The town soon prospered as the site of the Hastings Mill sawmill and a seaport, and became a general centre of trade on Burrard Inlet. It was also a rough-and-rowdy resort for loggers, fishermen and ships' crews.
The freeway
A campaign in the 1960s saved Gastown from a freeway
Gastown, like the nearby Chinatown and Strathcona, was scheduled to be demolished to build a major freeway into downtown. A campaign led by businesspeople and property owners, and by the counterculture, saved Gastown.
The clock
The steam clock was built in 1977 to cover a steam grate
The steam-powered clock on the corner of Cambie and Water Street was built in 1977 to cover a steam grate and to keep people from sleeping on the spot in cold weather. It is promoted as a heritage feature although it is of modern invention.
The works
Steel balls on a chain drive the clock, and whistles sound the chime
Steam powers a miniature steam engine in the base of the clock, which lifts steel balls on a chain. The weight of the balls on the descending chain drives a pendulum clock escapement. Whistles are used instead of bells to produce the Westminster chime.
Day 9, afternoon
It comes after Stanley Park. Then Granville Island.
More stories from this trip idea
The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Gastown, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.