Description of Historic Place

The Steveston Courthouse is a modest, one story, rectangular building situated on one of the main streets of the Steveston area of Richmond. The historic place is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

Located on land sold to the Township of Richmond by the Manoah Steves family and the original site of a police station and firehall, the Steveston Courthouse has heritage value in its early use as Steveston's judicial and community facility. Court sessions were held here in the 1920s and 1930s, while during World War II, the building was known as the Red Cross Hall, housing that organization for the duration of the war. It later became the Steveston Community Hall providing a meeting place for a number of community groups.

With its simple rectangular shape and small gabled inset porch with two access doors, the Courthouse is a fine example of an early institutional building, with the Craftsman influences reflecting this style popular in Richmond between the two wars.

Source: City of Richmond Clerk's Department File #4200-02

Character-Defining Elements

Character defining elements of the Steveston Courthouse include:
- Its location in Steveston's downtown core
- The utilitarian structure of the building, consisting of a simple rectangular plan, gable roof and inset front entry porch
- The building's relationship to the site, with access directly off the street
- Exterior details which include lapped wood and shingle siding, multi-paned wooden sash windows, decorative eave brackets and exposed rafter ends
- The two front access doors in the right and left hand walls of the recessed front entry