GASTOWN was Vancouver's first neighborhood and was named for "Gassy" Jack Dayton, a Yorkshire sailor, steamer captain, and bartender who arrived here in 1867 to open the first bar in the area. He was known for his habit of talking long (or "gassing"), and the area around his bar became known as "Gassy Town," a nickname that morphed into "Gastown."

Gastown's most famous (though by no means the oldest) landmark is the steam clock at the corner of Camby and Water Street. It was built in 1977 to cover the steam grid, part of Vancouver's distributed steam heating system, to use steam and keep street people awake in the cold weather.