I am so blessed to be a part of two interesting historical towns. Fort Langley where I live and Steveston where I work.
A Brief History of Steveston
Originally a farming community, it wasn't long, with the opening of the first cannery on the waterfront in 1882, that the commercial fishery was firmly established as the economic engine that would power Steveston for the next century. By 1890, Steveston was a full-blown boom town, with 15 canneries along its waterfront and record catches of salmon, herring and other species. Steveston canneries were shipping salmon overseas, setting a record of 16-million pounds in 1901. This natural bounty supported many hotels, an opera house, saloons and bawdy houses, as well as gambling tables and opium dens to service the fishing-season population of 10,000. However, by 1912, the fish processing lines had become automated, reducing the town's population by nearly half.
Despite devastating floods, the 1918 fire that razed the Chinese and Japanese sections of the village and the strike in 1900 over the price of fish, which found the strikers facing a Vancouver militia company, and WWII internment of Japanese-Canadians, Steveston has survived. No longer home to a single working cannery, the last succumbing to fewer fish and development pressures, Steveston is, nevertheless, home port to Canada's largest fishing fleet of over 600 vessels. B.C. Packers, the last cannery in Steveston, canned more salmon in 1985 (24-million pounds, with a further 12-million pounds frozen) than all Steveston canneries together in the boom year of 1901 (16-million pounds).
To read the rest of the history of Steveston, check out their website
Take a walk around the village with me. Excuse the dull skies in the pictures, it was actually pouring rain the day I took these. Generally the sun shines here a lot. We get the most sunshine of the lower mainland!
This is the building I work in. It is over 100 years old and has had a variety of business in it, amongst them a brothel and opium den. It was one of the only buildings to survive a fire that levelled most of the village
A view of the back, all those bricks keep the building toasty warm in the summer
This is my Massage Therapy Clinic
My view from the office
Some of the local businesses
A wooden sidewalk
Yup, that's a great big banana tree
The local wharf
I am always blown away by the ginormous size of the giant tankers that go past us!
A local fishmonger, selling her wares from her boat
This guy invited me to take a picture of him and his new boat that he just bought for a dollar!
The last standing cannery that is now a museum
My favourite building in town, I would love to have a business in this building. Right now it is being used as Mr Gold's ( Rumpelstiltskin) shop in the TV show "Once Upon a Time`` which is filmed here in Steveston. The building I work in is often in shots on the show as well.
This is my next door neighbour, Nick. He is from Romania and bakes bread in a large stone oven like they did in the old country
The garage across the street always has old cars parked out front
The Cannery Cafe, which has been renamed Granny's Diner for the TV show, is a popular lunch time stop.
Well now you know what I get to see every day when I go to work. I love this village so much. It`s too bad they wouldn`t let me move my house here, but I am more than happy with the place I ended up so all is well that's ends well!
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I love both places, Fort Langley and Steveston. Hopefully that guy knows how much a $1 boat really costs in the long run. I enjoyed meeting Nick. On my next visit I want to get some of his fresh bread to munch on over at the park. I haven't seen a large tanker, but lots of other large boats. The Fraser sure is a mighty river. How is the drive now getting to work? - Margy
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