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Online Heritage Inventory

Britannia Shipyard - First People’s House

General Information
Thumbnail photograph of Britannia Shipyard - First People’s House
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Type of Resource: Building
Common Name: Britannia Shipyard - First People’s House
Address: 12451 Trites Road
Neighbourhood (Planning Area Name): Steveston
Construction Date: 1885
Current Owner: Municipal Government
Designated: Yes

Statement of Significance
Description of Site
The First Peoples’ House is a long, narrow wooden structure with wood gutters and board and batten siding, similar in shape to a traditional Coast Salish smoke house. Located on the foreshore of the Steveston Channel, on the Britannia Shipyard site, the building served as a seasonal dormitory for First Nations cannery workers.

 Statement of Values
This very early structure was used as a dwelling for First Nations workers at the Phoenix Cannery and may be the last surviving Native residence associated with the Steveston canneries. Its heritage significance lies in its historical connection to the involvement of First Nations peoples in Richmond’s fishery, its rarity and intactness, and its form as it relates to the communal living conditions common in the canneries. In the early years of the fishing and canning industries, First Nations peoples comprised the majority of the work force. They inhabited this building during the fishing and canning season, and at other times of the year, following their seasonal round, returned to their traditional lands. The structure is an integral part of the Britannia site as it helps to tell the complete story of the fishing industry on the west coast.

 Character Defining Elements
· The form of the building as it relates to the communal lifestyle of many cannery workers, as indicated by the one door and eight windows in the original dwelling
· Its location as part of the intact Britannia Shipyard structures
· The remaining details and materials such as the surviving portions of the wooden gutters, cut-iron nails and original vertical board and batten siding.

 History
The First Peoples’ House is a long, narrow wooden structure with wood gutters and board and batten siding, similar in shape to a traditional Coast Salish smoke house. Located on the foreshore of the Steveston Channel, on the Britannia Shipyard site, the building served as a seasonal dormitory for First Nations cannery workers.

 Architectural Significance
Architectural Style
Working Industrial

 Building Type
Domestic

 Design Features
The First People’s House is a long narrow rectangular building. Originally built on a post foundation, during the dredging operations of the 1950’s and ‘60’s it had silt pumped under it. The building has a gable roof covered with corrugated metal sheets placed over planks and secured with cut-iron nails. The building is clad in vertical board and batten siding; originally the long walls had a row of eight small windows which have since been boarded up and replaced by eight five foot wide doors. There was originally a single low door in the centre of the south elevation. The building still retains portions of the original wooden gutters.

 Construction Method
Wood frame construction.

 Landscape Significance
Landscape Element
Cultural landscape/Natural Environment

 Design Attributes
The Britannia site was originally part of the Fraser River marsh estuary, and has gone through extensive cultural modifications over the life of the Britannia Cannery and Shipyard. The site is an example of an evolved cultural landscape shaped through use by activity or occupancy, in this case, the fishing and boatbuilding industries. Natural landscape components include marshes, fish habitat areas, and areas with natural shrubs and mature trees. The buildings and the boardwalk were originally constructed on piles above the marsh. The boardwalk served as the ‘main street’ for the Steveston riverfront. Much of the site today sits on land reclaimed through dredging operations in the 1950’s and ‘60’s, and there is evidence that a slough once cut through the site.

 Integrity
Alterations
The structure has been moved from its original location and the windows boarded up. During its conversion to a storage facility, large doors were cut along the south elevation and the interior was divided into eight compartments for individual gear storage.

 Original Location
No.

 Condition
The building appears to be in fair condition

 Lost
No

 Documentation
Evaluated By
Denise Cook BLA, PBD (Public History)

 Date
Friday, November 3, 2000

 Documentation
Inventory Sheets by Foundation Group Designs, January 1990
“Heritage Inventory Phase II” by Foundation Group Designs May 1989
“Britannia Heritage Shipyard Park Concept Plan” Christopher Phillips and Associates 1992
Marilyn Clayton, personal communication, November 2000
Britannia Heritage Shipyard documents (various dates)

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