The village is named for Manoah Steves, who arrived with his family in 1878 and began a dairy farm. His son Herbert actually developed the townsite, which became Steveston in 1889. Salmon canning began on the river in 1871; by the 1890s there were 45 canneries, about half at Steveston. Each summer large numbers of Japanese, Chinese, First Nations, and Euro-Canadian fishers and cannery workers descended on the village. The fishery also supported a significant boatbuilding and shipbuilding industry. Sailing ships from around the world visited the harbour to take on cargoes of canned salmon. Brief History Steveston Village web site Museum Britannia Heritage Shipyard Park