# Historic Steveston

- Link: https://historicsteveston.ca/historic-steveston/
- Published: 2015-08-14T11:20:44-07:00
- Author: Sarah

# Historic Steveston, British Columbia

![Moncton Street](/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/MonctonStreet.jpg)

## The Rise and Fall and Rise Again of Steveston

When W.H. Steves purchased land in 1886 and began laying out Steveston, he imagined
a town that would rival Vancouver. Canneries, shops, farms, and homes were established.
People came from around the world to put down roots and the town flourished from
the 1890s to the 1910s.

Then boom led to bust. A decline in the salmon industry from 1913 onwards, a devastating
fire in 1918 and the Great Depression in the 1930s meant years of hardship. In 1942,
Steveston also lost more than half its population and many businesses when people
of Japanese descent were interned.

Throughout it all, the town survived to rise again. Today, Steveston is a destination
renowned for its village atmosphere, waterfront beauty, and strong connection to
its heritage.

![Tall ships](/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/TallShips.jpg)

## Fishing the Mouth of the Fraser

Steveston’s location at the mouth of the mighty Fraser River is a great place for
salmon fishing. First Nations people up and down the coast and along the River’s
shores knew this and came here each year to set up camps during the summer to fish
for salmon, sturgeon, and other fish.

For thousands of years, First Nations relied on these rich fishing grounds to support
their communities. As European settlers began to establish farms and canneries, 
First Nations camps became a thing of the past. However, First Nations people continued
to live and work in Steveston as part of the growing fishing industry.

Tall ships came to Steveston to load tins of fish destined for international markets.
During this time, people came from around the world and Steveston grew with a mix
of cultural influences.

## Heritage Sites in Steveston

![Illustrated map of the Steveston waterfront showing heritage sites from Scotch
Pond to London Farm](/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/steveston-map-v8.png)

![Fish boats moored beside the wooden building at Scotch Pond](/wp-content/uploads/
2026/10/Scotch-Pond-e1671747673149.jpg)

### Scotch Pond

Scotch Pond began as a tidal slough on the Sturgeon Bank flats. A year-round Musqueam
settlement stood here until the late 1890s, with fishing sites, clam beds and food
plants close by.

The Scottish-Canadian Cannery was built in 1899 at the end of a boardwalk, with 
worker housing on pilings over the water. In 1905 the Atagi family opened a boatworks
at the head of the slough, carrying on Japanese boatbuilding traditions until they
were forced to leave during the internment of the 1940s.

The Canadian Fishing Company took over the site around 1925 and dredged the slough
in the 1950s to make a moorage for its fleet. Today the Scotch Pond Heritage Cooperative
Association, a group of fishermen, looks after it as a traditional fish boat moorage.

[Historic Places register](https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=2397)

![The needle-shaped Fisherman's Memorial at Garry Point Park](/wp-content/uploads/
2026/10/Garry-Point-e1671747698476.jpg)

### Steveston Fisherman’s Memorial

Often called the Fisherman’s Needle, this monument in Garry Point Park is shaped
like the traditional needle fishermen use to mend their nets. It stands on a stone
base laid out as a compass, beside the south arm of the Fraser River.

The project began in 1990 with the gathering of names, and the memorial was unveiled
on May 4, 1996. The names of 147 fishermen and their boats were engraved on the 
walls around the compass, and more have been added every few years since.

Its inscription reads: “This memorial honours all the fishermen of our community
who have lost their lives in pursuit of their profession.” A remembrance is held
here each year on April 28, the National Day of Mourning.

[About the memorial](https://www.richmond.ca/culture/sites/richmondmemorialmonuments/stevestonfishermansemorial.htm)

![Gulf of Georgia Cannery](/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/GoG.jpg)

### Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site

Built in 1894, and nicknamed the “Monster Cannery”, this was once the largest of
Steveston’s 15 canneries and one of the biggest in British Columbia.

Originally a salmon cannery until canning operations came to a halt during the Great
Depression of the 1930s, the site continued to operate as a raw fish station and
net loft until the 1940s. During World War II, herring was canned here to send overseas
to Allied soldiers. Later, the cannery operated as a herring reduction plant until
it closed in 1979.

The site was declared a national historic site in 1976 and is now a museum presenting
the history of the West Coast fishing industry, operated by the Gulf of Georgia 
Cannery Society on behalf of Parks Canada.

[Cannery website](https://gulfofgeorgiacannery.org/)
[Parks Canada](https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/bc/georgia)
[Historic Places register](https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=7621)

![Steveston Museum](/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/StevestonMuseum.jpg)

### Steveston Museum & Post Office

Built during Steveston’s boom days, this building was the area’s first bank. It 
opened as a Northern Bank in 1905 before operating as a branch for the Royal Bank
of Canada for almost 50 years. Purchased from the B.C Mills catalogue and shipped
down the Fraser River from New Westminster, the building was assembled on site.

From 1966, Dr. James Campbell had his medical practice here until he sold the building
in 1977. Since then, the building has been operated by the Steveston Historical 
Society and the City of Richmond.

Today, the museum and post office is surrounded by traditional wooden boardwalks
and filled with captivating exhibits about life in Steveston village.

[Visitor information](https://stevestonheritage.ca/visit/steveston-museum-post-office/)

[Historic Places register](https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=2365)

![JFBS Building](/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/JFBSB.jpg)

### Steveston Japanese Canadian Museum

A short walk north along No. 1 Road would have once brought you to a 30-bed hospital,
built in 1900 by the Japanese Fishermen’s Benevolent Society.

This building served as an administration office for both the hospital and Japanese
School next door.

Moved onto the Steveston Museum site from its original location in 2010 and opened
in 2015, today it houses exhibits on Steveston’s Japanese Canadian community.

Explore Nikkei Stories, a 10 part video series on the audio-video kiosk and reveal
stories of struggle and triumph within Steveston’s Japanese Canadian community.

[About the exhibit](https://historicsteveston.ca/japanese-fishermens-benevolent-society-building-exhibit/)

[Visitor information](https://stevestonheritage.ca/visit/steveston-museum-post-office/)

![Engraved boulders at the Steveston Nikkei Internment Memorial](/wp-content/uploads/
2026/10/Nikkei-Internment-Memorial-scaled-e1671231539304.jpg)

### Steveston Nikkei Internment Memorial

In April 1942, more than 2,500 Japanese Canadian (Nikkei) residents of Richmond 
were removed from their community. They were among over 22,000 people sent to internment
camps in the BC Interior or to farms in Alberta and Manitoba. They were not allowed
to return to the coast until 1949, and many came back to find their property and
possessions had been sold.

This memorial garden, designed by Hapa Collaborative for the City of Richmond, was
completed in 2019. It marks the 75th anniversary of the removal and the 70th anniversary
of the return.

The pattern of stones is based on a placemat that an interned woman wove by hand
from discarded fruit and salmon labels. Boulders are engraved with a map of the 
camp locations, Japanese plum trees honour the community’s origins, and curved paths
trace the leaving and the returning.

[About the memorial](https://hapacobo.com/projects/steveston-nikkei-internment-memorial/)

![Steveston Interurban Tram Building](/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Interurban.jpg)

### Steveston Tram

This building’s architecture is inspired by the Steveston Station that once stood
onsite. The original Canadian Pacific Railway tracks built in 1902 run through the
building, creating a fascinating heritage feature.

Between 1905 and 1958, these tracks carried B.C. Electric Railway Company interurban
trams between Vancouver and Steveston via Marpole. This line was part of an extensive
network of streetcars in Vancouver and Interurbans that ran all the way to New Westminster
and Chilliwack.

Today this building houses the Interurban Tram Car 1220, which was built in St. 
Louis in 1912. It is the largest artefact in the Richmond Museum’s collection and
one of only seven surviving Interurban trams.

[Visitor information](https://stevestonheritage.ca/visit/steveston-tram/)

![Britannia Shipyard](/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Britannia.jpg)

### Britannia Shipyards National Historic Site

Once a multicultural community built on pilings and connected by boardwalks, these
diverse historic buildings explore the history of wooden boat building and living
conditions on the waterfront.

Built in 1889, the Britannia Cannery operated a single canning line until 1917. 
As a result of the rockslides at Hell’s Gate four years earlier, many canneries 
were forced to close or were converted to other uses. The Britannia site served 
as a shipyard and maritime repair shop until 1979.

Declared a national historic site in 1991, the remaining buildings illustrate the
industrial activities and living arrangements of a typical Steveston cannery and
shipyard of the early 1900s. Exhibits feature stories of the hardships and hope 
experienced by the multicultural workforce.

[Visitor information](https://stevestonheritage.ca/visit/britannia-shipyards-national-historic-site/)

[Historic Places register](https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=7819)

![London Heritage Farm](/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/London-Farm.jpg)

### London Farm

Completed in the late 1890s, this historic farmhouse was home to two generations
of the London family. Charles and his brother, William, arrived from Ontario in 
1877. They purchased 200 acres and began to clear the land for farming. Charles 
married Henrietta Dalzeil in 1888 and raised their family of five here.

Their eldest daughter, Lucy, and her husband, Herbert Howse, also raised their family
here until 1948. It was bought by the City of Richmond in 1978.

The farmhouse reopened in 1983 after extensive restoration. It now serves as a museum
that depicts pioneer life in Richmond at the turn of the century. The farm is also
home to heritage perennial gardens, historic farm equipment and the Spragg family
barn.

[London Farm website](https://londonfarm.ca/)
[Visitor information](https://stevestonheritage.ca/visit/london-farm/)
[Historic Places register](https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=2386)

## Passionate About Steveston’s History?

Become a member of the Steveston Historical Society and help us in our mission to
preserve and promote the history of Steveston, BC.

[Find Out More](https://historicsteveston.ca/membership/)