Gastown. Photo: Destination Vancouver/Nelson Mouellic
On the world scale, Vancouver is a young city at 138 years old. But a lot has changed since our city was founded. Time travel to the past at museums, neighbourhoods, parks, and historic buildings around Vancouver.
Wander Through Historic Gastown
Located in downtown Vancouver, Gastown is the oldest neighbourhood in Vancouver. John “Gassy Jack” Deighton opened the city’s first saloon in 1867, giving the area the nickname it still holds. Many historic brick buildings survive from that time, thanks in part to a successful 1960s campaign to block the construction of a freeway through Gastown. Today the cobblestone streets are home to cafes and trendy boutiques. Be sure to stop for a photo op at the famous Gastown Steam Clock. But while it may look historic, it was actually built in 1977 as part of a neighbourhood revitalization project.
Gastown. Photo: Destination Vancouver/Nelson Mouellic
Immerse Yourself in the Past on a Historical Walking Tour
Sign up for a walking tour to discover a side of Vancouver you’ve never heard of. Forbidden Vancouver offers historical walking tours that highlight our city’s history of crime and scandal. Their Lost Souls of Gastown includes dramatic retellings of the neighbourhood’s gritty Victorian past. Or follow your guide through Davie Street Village to learn about LGBTQ+ history on The Really Gay History Tour.
Photo: Forbidden Vancouver Walking Tours
Listen to Live Music at the Orpheum Theatre
The Orpheum Theatre opened in 1927 as a Vaudeville venue and functioned as a movie theatre for many decades. In the 1970s, the City of Vancouver purchased the theatre and restored it to the opulence of its 1920s heyday. In 1979 it was designated a National Historic Site of Canada. Today the Orpheum is the home of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and also hosts comedy shows and musical events across many genres.
Orpheum Theatre. Photo: Vancouver Civic Theatres
Experience Victorian Family Life at the Roedde House Museum
Downtown Vancouver’s skyline is dominated by steel girders and panes of glass. But a visit to the Roedde House Museum on Barclay Street will whisk you back to the Victorian Era. Volunteers have painstakingly restored the house to demonstrate the realities of family life in the 1890s.
Photo via Roedde House Museum
Learn about Indigenous History in Stanley Park
Indigenous people have lived in what is now Vancouver since time immemorial. Join an Indigenous guide from Talaysay Tours on a walk through Stanley Park. Along the way, you will learn about the history of the local First Nations people through stories that include their experiences with explorers, traders, and settlers. You’ll also learn about Indigenous communities in Vancouver today.
Candace Campo from Talaysay Walking Indigenous Tours leading a tour in Stanley Park. Photo: Destination Vancouver/Kindred & Scout
Explore the Former Warehouses and Rail Yard in Yaletown
Vancouver owes its existence to the railways – our city is the terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Today the railway ends at several high-tech port facilities, but originally, it ended in Yaletown at a collection of brick warehouses and a huge rail yard. Find historic Yaletown on Hamilton and Mainland Streets with boutiques and restaurants occupying the historic warehouses, patios spilling across the former loading docks, and chic loft apartments upstairs. The railroad legacy also lives on at the Roundhouse Community Centre nearby: the courtyard preserves the historic railway turntable and Canadian Pacific Engine 374, the first engine to arrive in Vancouver in 1887, has its own place of pride inside the community centre.
Mainland Street in Yaletown. Photo: Destination Vancouver/Nelson Mouellic