Gastown
Neighbourhood
The intersection of Water and Cambie Street with the Gastown steam clock in the background
Country	Canada
Province	British Columbia
City	Vancouver
Website	Gastown Business Improvement Society

Gastown is a neighbourhood in the city of Vancouver, British Columbia. It is where the city core of Vancouver was created. Gastown is located in the Northwest section of the Downtown Eastside.

It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2009. Every summer, both the Vancouver International Jazz Festival and Global Relay Gastown Grand Prix takes place throughout Gastown.

In 1858, English sailor John Deighton, also known by the nickname "Gassy Jack", decided to join the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush and travelled to New Caledonia (later British Columbia). Deighton ran a bar in New Westminster called the Globe Saloon from 1862 until 1867. After going on vacation to Harrison Hot Springs, he left his bar in the care of an American. When Deighton returned in July, his bar was completely destroyed.^[1] Hastings Mill owner Captain Edward Stamp suggested that Deighton should rebuild his bar near his mill on the southern shores of Burrard Inlet.

The area surrounding the bar started to become known by locals as Gassy's Town (later shortened to Gastown). They named it after him because Deighton was known to talk (or "gas") a lot. The area started to become a trading market for the locals.^[2] In 1870, the government surveyed the settlement and made a layout of a townsite. They renamed the area as Granville after British Secretary of State for the Colonies Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville.^[3] Many locals still referred to the site as Gastown.^[4] Deighton moved his bar to the corner of Carrall and Water street since his original location was on the route of the new townsite. He bought the parcel of land for $135 and built a hotel along with his new bar.^[5]

On April 6, 1886, Granville was incorporated as the city of Vancouver. The same year, Canadian Pacific Railway President William Cornelius Van Horne arrived in Port Moody and built the terminus for CPR. Van Horne gave the city the name of Vancouver after Captain George Vancouver.^[6] The same year on June 13, the Great Vancouver Fire destroyed much of the area including Gassy Jack's Deighton Hotel. Around 21 to 50 residents were killed in the fire. Within 6 months, the town was starting to rebuild. They started to build many of the buildings with brick instead of wood and the Byrnes Block was built on top of where the Deighton Hotel once stood. It remains as one of Vancouver's oldest buildings. Maple Tree Square was built at the intersection of Alexander, Powell, Water and Carrall Streets.^[7]

After World War I, Gastown saw many businesses close and move and the area was basically abandoned after the Great Depression.^[8] After the economic boom after World War II, many Vancouverites moved to the suburbs surrounding the city. This caused traffic backup in the city's centre core as most commuted to work. In the 1960s, Gastown and the surrounding area became a rundown area of the city with drug use and violence rising, it became known as Vancouver's skid row.^[9] A proposal to build a freeway to connect Highway 1 to Vancouver's downtown core was put forth. Gastown, along with Chinatown and Strathcona were strongly opposed to this proposal since it directly went through their neighbourhoods. Residents of all three communities protested and the planned freeway was dropped.^[10]

In 1971, the province of British Columbia recognized both Gastown and Chinatown and placed the on their BC Register of Historic Places. Many businesses started to return during the 1970s.^[11]

Since Gastown was so close to the Downtown Eastside, this caused more crime and drug use started to overlap into the area. Mayor Tom Campbell attempted to clean up the area by deploying drug squad unit and set up undercover stings to arrest criminals. On August 7, 1971, both police and protestors fought with each other in an incident that became known as the Gastown riots.^[12] A smoke-in was organized by the Youth International Party (Yippies) who were in favour of legalizing marijuana.^[13] 79 protestors were arrested during the clash. Local artist Stan Douglas unveiled a two-story photo mural to remember the incident.^[14]

In the 1970s, the city replaced the streets with brick, upgraded the streetlights, and a statue of Gassy Jack made by Vern Simpson was erected in the area. In 1977, the Gastown steam clock was built by Raymond Saunders on the corner of Cambie and Water Street. It became a well-known landmark of Gastown with visitors coming from all over to see it.^[15][16]

On April 20, 2009, Gastown was given status as a National Historic Site of Canada.^[17]

On February 14, 2022, Protestors marched through Gastown during protests for the Missing and murdered Indigenous women. They tore down and spray painted it red to signify blood. They tore the statue down because of Deighton's colonial history and his 1870 marriage to a 12-year-old Squamish girl named Kwa7xiliya.^[18] His statue being taken down was already being discussed between the city and members of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. The statue was not put back up after it was toppled.^[19][20]

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  Gastown's Maple Tree Square on Carrall and Water street in 1886
• 
  Gastown in August 1974
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  Gastown steam clock
• 
  Gassy Jack's statue which stood until 2022

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gastown.

• Official website