Historic Steveston Village, now a section of the City of Richmond, British Columbia, is a former Canadian salmon canning centre at the mouth of the Fraser River on Lulu Island. Since 1945 it has hosted an annual Steveston Salmon Festival on Canada Day, 1 July.
The Early Days
Manoah Steves arrived with his family in 1878 from Moncton, New Brunswick by way of Chatham, Ontario as the first to settle in the area. The town site, which became Steveston in 1889, had numerous canneries by the 1890s. In 1880, Manoah’s son William Herbert Steves had bought land to develop a town that he hoped would grow into a seaport to rival Vancouver. The British Army Engineers helped him lay out the lots and squares. By 1890, Steveston had a steamboat wharf, an opera house, hotels, retail stores, a newspaper, and a hospital. Each summer throngs of seasonal fishermen and cannery workers joined the growing population of year-round villagers. Fishing supported boatbuilding, and sailing ships from around many parts docked at the harbour to load cargoes of canned salmon.
By 1912, however, with automated fish processing demand for labor decreased, and the town’s population declined quickly. Canning as a part of the local economy finally faded out in the 1990s. The Gulf of Georgia Cannery, built in 1894 and at one time the largest in British Columbia, reopened in 1994 as a National Historic Site of Canada. The present post office, museum, and tourist information centre was once a branch of the Royal Bank of Canada. The Steveston Historical Society has operated the museum since 1979 in the 1905 building that had been first the bank and then a doctor’s office.
Post-war Steveston developed along with Richmond into a residential suburb of Vancouver as farmland converted to housing. Since the 1970s the community, still a fishing port, has developed its heritage character and its waterfront to attract tourism and related service businesses.
Film Productions
Picturesque Steveston is a frequent location for feature films and television programs. It was a stand-in for Marblehead, Massachusetts in the 2010 film adaptation of The Death and Life of Charlie St Cloud and the scene of fictional Steveston, Maine in the TV movie A Cooler Climate. It has been a location for the X-Files series as Steveston, Massachusetts and in a Stargate SG-1 episode as Steveston, Oregon. Steveston storefronts and business façades along Moncton Street near the cannery form the cinematic set for the television series Once Upon A Time. The 2014 remake of Godzilla filmed some scenes in Steveston on the same street locations as those for Once Upon a Time.
Today Steveston still maintains the character of a quaint, historic fishing village. Over 350 businesses and services accommodate a growing population. Steveston in 2002 was the site of a rendezvous of hundreds of restored tall sailing ships that attracted 400,000 to the dramatic spectacle along the coastline.
The canneries are gone, but Steveston is nevertheless home port to a large fishing fleet of over 600 vessels. Steveston remains a fishing village with tourism expanding quickly as an economic driver. The village retains a pleasantly tranquil atmosphere even with thousands of visitors on the streets on sunny summer days. Two National Historic Sites of Canada, the Gulf of Georgia Cannery and Britannia Heritage Shipyard Park, are colorful reminders of its maritime past.
DP IS READY! DP IS READY! REZONING IS DONE! GREAT DEVELOPMENT PROJECT launches 16 units (plus one secondary suite) of Townhouse in prestigious Steveston North Area, floor area approx. 33,500 sf! Best Value, ONLY $675,000/door. Selling assembled with adjacent with 4571 & 4591 Steveston Hwy. Central location, close to transits, schools, parks, and Shopping Malls. School catchment: Diefenbaker Elementary & Boyd Secondary. Don't miss out!More details
Very unique outstanding custom built Mediterranean style home in the most prestige Stevenson north area overlook the ocean. Corner lot, all stone decorated 3 level plus a separate accessory building close to 4500 sq ft interior and over 2100 sq outdoor space. Luxury finishing inside & out with 16"4 ceiling grand entrance, custombuilt library, elevator, dome ceiling, gym, home office, home theater, nanny suite, high tech alarm system, lots of LED color lighting, 900 sq ft huge patio at the back; Each room has its own en-suite and balcony plus roof top deck with fantastic ocean view, total deck area is over 1200 sq ft makes this home so unique and never seen in Richmond. School catchment: Steves Elementary & Boyd Secondary. Quiet, safe & friendly neighborhood. Walking distance to Ocean.More details
DP IS READY! DP IS READY! REZONING IS DONE! GREAT DEVELOPMENT PROJECT launches 16 units (plus one secondary suite) of Townhouse in prestigious Steveston North Area, floor area approx. 33,500 sf! Best Value, ONLY $675,000/door. Selling assembled with adjacent with 4571 & 4591 Steveston Hwy. Central location, close to transits, schools, parks, and Shopping Malls. School catchment: Diefenbaker Elementary & Boyd Secondary. Don't miss out!More details
DP IS READY! DP IS READY! REZONING IS DONE! GREAT DEVELOPMENT PROJECT launches 16 units (plus one secondary suite) of Townhouse in prestigious Steveston North Area, floor area approx. 33,500 sf! Best Value, ONLY $675,000/door. Selling assembled with adjacent with 4571 & 4591 Steveston Hwy. Central location, close to transits, schools, parks, and Shopping Malls. School catchment: Diefenbaker Elementary & Boyd Secondary. Don't miss out!More details
NEAR WATERFRONT POTENTIAL COMMERICAL CHILD DAYCARE FACILITY under current IL zoning. Near Steveston Harbour, Paramount pond, Along the Dyke Road walk/bike trail. Prime location nearby new Residential/Commercial Developments CENTRAL LOCATION * property is to be sold AS IS * for this holding investment property.More details