Gassy Jack

It’s a statue of a drunk chubby sailor that moved to Vancouver and liked to gamble a lot. His real name is John Deighton born 1830 in Hull, England. He used to own a bar in Gastown near his current statue at Water and Carrall streets called the Globe Saloon. It was built by sawmill workers in exchange for all the whiskey they could drink in one sitting. The area used to be called the townsite of Granville and renamed Gastown after him. He is called Gassy Jack because he was talkative and of his storytelling. Legend has it that Jack’s mastiff began to howl the night of May 29, 1875. Jack hearing it howl said «You son of a bitch! There’s something going to happen.» Captain John Deighton– Gassy Jack of Gastown– was 44 years old when he died that night.

Gastown was named after him but I always wonder why tourists (and locals) are so entranced.
He wasn’t a very nice guy — a drunk, a ‘story-​teller’ and when his first wife died he married her 12-​year old cousin. They had one child but because of son’s mental problems, he cast the wife out on the street. He apparently had more steam in him than the Steam Clock — which has zero and is not a historical monument at all — it was built in the 1970s
How’s that for local flavour?
Of course most of the landmark names (such as Granville) have a history that people either don’t know or want to ignore…