Vancouver’s Oldest Pub Turns 100
byThe Lamplighter in Gastown, Vancouver’s oldest pub, is celebrating its 100th birthday on March 20th with a ceremony and concert, and we’re all invited to the party.
Vancouver’s Oldest Pub Turns 100
- Date: Thursday, March 20, 2025 8:00pm to 2:00am
- Location: The Lamplighter Public House (92 Water St, Vancouver)
- Tickets: Available online now
A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held from 3:00pm to 5:00pm with the mayor and other local dignitaries. The anniversary party will kick-off at 6:00pm with headliners Black Pontiac, and DJ Krisp Kutz following the show to keep the good times rolling until late into the night.
About The Lamplighter at the Dominion Hotel
On March 20, 1925, The Dominion Hotel at 92 Water Street in Gastown, paid the sum of $750 ($19,785 in 2025 dollars) to the Liquor Control Board in Victoria and was issued British Columbia Beer License #1.
That first beer license granted the Dominion Hotel the right to “purchase beer from a Vendor and to sell by the glass or open bottle to persons for consumption on the premises,” but games, dancing, and women weren’t permitted in 1925. Thankfully games and dancing are now strongly encouraged and the Dominion Hotel long ago closed the gender gap by becoming the first Vancouver pub to admit women, one of many firsts it set.
Its Gastown neighbourhood has gone through many changes down the years and even had to dodge the threat of destruction in the 1960s from a proposed downtown freeway and redevelopment project. Through it all, The Lamplighter has stood like a beacon at the corner of Water and Abbott, welcoming locals and tourists alike to settle in, grab a drink, and leave the pressures of the world at the door.
