A Different Energy in the City
Every time I visit this place, I feel a certain energy in the air.
Gastown is lively, full of people and voices.
It is, of course, a very popular tourist area, and sometimes the crowds disturb the quiet atmosphere a little.
For that reason, whenever I decide to stop for a coffee there, I try to visit outside the busiest hours.
That way the place reveals its true character.
The Heart of Gastown
This photograph was taken in Gastown, Vancouver, next to the famous Steam Clock.
The area is the oldest neighborhood in the city, dating back to 1867, when the sailor John Deighton — known as Gassy Jack — opened a saloon that quickly became a meeting point for workers, traders, and sailors.
From that moment, a new town began to grow around it.
A Reflection That Connects
Earlier, I wrote about Travel and the Old Harbor Buildings of Gastown where the architecture of the area still reflects the commercial life of the early port.
The Historic Street
The street you see here is Water Street, once the main road of the old harbor.
In those days it was lined with warehouses, offices of trading companies, and businesses connected to maritime commerce.
Many of the red brick buildings that still stand today were built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Behind the clock rises one of those historic commercial buildings, typical of the architecture of that era.
The Story of the Steam Clock
The Steam Clock, however, tells another story.
It was built in 1977 by the clockmaker Raymond Saunders and powered by steam from the city’s old steam system.
Every fifteen minutes it whistles like an old steam engine, echoing the industrial past of the neighborhood.
Today this corner is one of the most photographed places in Vancouver.
When the Crowds Fade
But if you arrive early in the morning or later in the evening, when the crowds disappear, something different happens.
The street becomes quiet.
The brick buildings glow softly under the evening light.
A Romantic Walk
And suddenly Gastown feels less like a tourist attraction…
and more like a romantic walk through the early history of Vancouver.
