Travel Reference
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(Maple Tree Sq; 4) It's amusing to think that Vancouver's favorite statue is a testament
to the virtues of drink. At least that's one interpretation of the jaunty 'Gassy' Jack
Deighton bronze, perched atop a whiskey barrel in Maple Tree Sq. Erected in 1970, it
recalls the time when Deighton arrived here in 1867 and built a bar, triggering a devel-
opment that soon became Vancouver.
Rivaling the nearby Steam Clock for most-photographed Gastown landmark, Gassy
is popular enough to have his own Twitter account, where he spends his days whining
about the indignities wrought by passing pigeons. The statue is roughly on the site of
Deighton's first bar; he soon built a second, grander one nearby.
MAPLE TREE SQUARE SQUARE
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(intersection of Alexander, Water, Powell & Carrall Sts; 4) The intersection where Van-
couver began was the site of 'Gassy' Jack Deighton's first bar, and the spot where the
inaugural city-council meeting was held under a large maple tree. It drips with old-town
charm. Snap a photo of the jaunty statue of Jack, plus the nearby, recently restored
Byrnes Block, the oldest Vancouver building still in its original location.
Gastown was designated a national historic site in 2010, in the main because of this
area. Stocked with historic buildings completed a few years after the 1886 Great Fire,
Carrall St has some handsome architecture. Images from Vancouver's early days (just
after it was renamed from the original moniker of 'Granville') show that the first 'city
hall' was actually a sagging tent with a handwritten sign on it.
WOODWARD'S NOTABLE BUILDING
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(149 W Hastings St; 14) The project that catalyzed recent Downtown Eastside redevel-
opment, this former landmark department store was a derelict shell after closing in the
early 1990s. Successive plans to transform it failed until, in 2010, it reopened as the
home of new shops and condos, a trigger for what many have labelled neighborhood
gentrification. Check out the monumental 'Gastown Riot' photo montage inside.
The Woodward's W-shaped red neon sign that stood atop the building for decades
was replaced with a reproduction when the new development was completed; the old
one is preserved in a glass cabinet at ground level near the Cordova St entrance. If you
get the angle right (which might mean lying on the sidewalk), you can snap an image of
both signs at the same time.
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