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To some, they might sound rather dubious beginnings, but Vancouver’s earliest history can be traced along Gastown’s cobble stone streets to a statue of “Gassy” Jack Deighton. As a garrulous saloon-owner, nicknamed “Gassy Jack” because he talked so much, he ran a free-wheeling saloon where workers from a nearby sawmill would drink as hard as they worked. And since his their nearest watering hole, business boomed and soon, an entire community known as Gastown grew around his saloon. After the big fire destroyed Vancouver in 1886, the area was rebuilt with warehouses, hotels and more permanent homes. It was a busy trade center, with its protected harbor hosting ships from all over the world. But then the Depression hit, spiraling the area downward and where it settled as a skidrow until the late 1960s when it was declared an Historic Site and underwent a dramatic facelift.

Today, brick sidewalks, intriguing architecture, and period lighting create an old-world atmosphere, as do street names like Blood Alley and Gaoler’s Mews, so called because the first city jail was housed here. Many of the buildings predate 1900 (and are the city’s oldest), with loading docks which once received cargo directly from the water below. Some buildings are even shaped to the original, wavy shoreline and Gastown’s main thoroughfare is, appropriately, called Water Street. A stone’s throw from Canada Place and the cruise ship terminal, Gastown’s become a popular people place to stroll, shop and eat. Here’s where you’ll also find the world’s first steam clock. Powered by an underground steam system used to heat the neighboring buildings, the whistle blows every quarter-hour and on the hour, as steam spews from its works. Bring your camera.