Description of Historic Place

The Ray's Drygoods building is part of a row of commercial buildings along Moncton Street in downtown Steveston. All of the buildings are of a similar age and scale, and present a continuous facade of small retail shops flush to the sidewalk.

Heritage Value

Ray's Drygoods is part of an almost-continuous facade of simple, wood frame, false front style commercial buildings along Moncton Street. The building is of a similar scale to the majority of the buildings, oriented and built flush to the street, emphasizing the flow of pedestrian traffic which would have occurred early in the century along Steveston's main street. This pattern of commercial development characterized Steveston in the early part of the twentieth century, as the area boomed in population and economic wealth from farming and fishing. The Ray's Drygoods building is significant as part of this early and continuing historic pattern, a rare one in the city of Richmond. It is a fortunate survivor of the 1918 fire in Steveston, a good example of a false-fronted commercial structure, and prominently located at the corner of Moncton Street and First Avenue.

Source: City of Richmond Clerk's Department

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of Ray's Drygoods include:
- the building's front-gabled roof and the distinctive stepped-parapet false front, and its typical rectangular building from behind
- the height, scale, colour and massing of the building, typical of the streetscape
- its orientation and relationship to Moncton Street
- its presence as part of the historical development form of the street which creates a diverse, articulated edge and a sense of enclosure, and its contribution to the liveliness and diversity of the area