Steveston Museum

Steveston Museum

The Steveston Museum and post office.
Established	1979
Location	3811 Moncton Street Steveston, British Columbia Canada
Coordinates	49°07′31″N 123°10′58″W / 49.1253°N 123.1829°W / 49.1253; -123.1829Coordinates: 49°07′31″N 123°10′58″W / 49.1253°N 123.1829°W / 49.1253; -123.1829

The Steveston Museum is located at 3811 Moncton Street in the heart of the village of Steveston, British Columbia, Canada. The building is owned by the City of Richmond and is run by the Steveston Historical Society. Erected in 1905 during a cannery boom period, the building housed Steveston's first bank.

Changing Times

The prefabricated building was selected by Northern Bank from the BC Mills Timber and Trading Co. catalog and shipped down the Fraser River by barge from New Westminster. It remained a bank until 1963, when it became Dr. J.M. Campbell's medical practice.

In 1979, the building opened as The Steveston Museum and Post Office. Today, it is surrounded by traditional wooden boardwalks and contains exhibits about life in Steveston Village.

In 2010, the Japanese Fisherman's Benevolent Association Building or Japanese Hospital Office, was relocated from its previous location at 4091 Chatham Street to the adjacent space north of the Steveston Museum. As of 2012 the site also hosts a Tourism Richmond information centre.

The Museum

The Steveston Historical Society's mandate is to portray the story of Steveston, a fishing and farming village at the south east corner of Richmond. The main floor of the building displays the Bank Manager's office with early 20th century furniture, business machines and other displays. A functional office and meeting room are located upstairs in the former living quarters of the early bank staff who also doubled as night watchmen and caretakers.

Japanese and Chinese artifacts reflect the presence of these cultures in Steveston and photo displays capture some of the heritage of one of the oldest fishing harbours on the Canadian West Coast.

The Japanese Nurses' Residence

This building was used as the administration office for a Japanese Hospital, the first hospital to be built in Richmond. Built in 1900 by the Japanese Fisherman's Benevolent Association, it was the primary health care provider for the community and had 30 beds, a surgery ward, kitchen and staff dormitories. The facility is important as part of the infrastructure built in response to the typhoid fever epidemics that were an annual scourge of the Steveston Japanese Canadian community during the last years of the 19th Century.^[1]

The hospital operated until 1942 and in the years following the War the building was converted into a family residence. In 2010 the Japanese Hospital Office was moved to become part of the Steveston Museum. The building is currently being restored and is expected to be completed in early 2015.

References

• Museum profile
• Steveston Village
• Steveston Museum