Gastown Steam Clock
Whimsical steam-powered clock puffing and whistling on the hour from a corner heating vent.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Gastown Steam Clock in Vancouver opens with the question a man in a flat cap loves to ask tourists outside it: how old do you think this clock is? It traces the answer back to Ray Saunders, a young clockmaker who built it from scratch in 1977 to hide an unglamorous steam grate on this corner, borrowing its bones from a grandfather clock and its chime from Big Ben. Listen for the steam still rising from the little chimney on top, right on the hour.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
Nine O'Clock Gun
Antique naval cannon on the seawall, fired every night at nine to mark the hour since the eighteen nineties.
Gastown
Historic waterfront district of cobblestone streets and Victorian-era buildings marking the city's original townsite.
Maple Tree Squares
Historic street junction and birthplace of a city, marked by the toppled statue of its saloon-keeper founder.
Engine 374 Pavilion
Restored eighteen eighty-six steam locomotive that hauled the first transcontinental train into the city, displayed in a glass pavilion.