Gibsons, BC, Canada was influenced by both, First Nation and European culture and heritage. The Gibsons area was the original home of the Coast Salish people, specifically the Shishalh First Nation people. There are signs still evident of the Shishalh First Nation people existence near Gibsons like the shell middens left at the foot of some of the waterfront trails found on the lower Sunshine Coast.

The first European to set up house in the Gibson, BC area was George Gibsons who arrived to the Sunshine Coast in 1886 to settle down with his two sons by accident. Originally the thought of Gibsons as a home base was given little thought until the village was found by accident or, as some say, because of the will of nature.

The Gibsons family originally were navigating the coastlines and traveling through the islands on their way from Nanaimo on Vancouver Island to the Vancouver mainland when a storm kicked up and forced the trio to take shelter on Keats IsIand.

After the storm died down and the winds subsided they noticed across the way the coastline of Gibsons and how beautiful it looked. The Gibsons decided to take a side trip, exploratory sail per say, to investigate.

George Gibsons was so captivated by the landscape that he acquired 160 acres along the waterfront and started setting up roots.