A Tiny History Lesson

Last weekend, still raining and dreary and grey out, we decided to get out of the house and go for a drive. My partner insisted I bring along my camera...even though I thought it might be too yick outside for any photos. Apparently he had an idea of where we'd go and thought I might find it interesting.

And I really did! Little did I know that Richmond has a fair amount of history and historical sites that I had never heard of...and I grew up here in the Lower Mainland. Shame on me!

First, he drove till he found the first site: Finn Slough. It's a tiny 1900's fishing village on the water that still has something like 50 residents, though the land is very much disputed by Richmond itself. (see history links below!)

The bridge over the slough - those boards in the middle get removed to let boats pass through!

 Some interesting buildings, and a boat:

Ramshackle net shed at the end of the bridge:



More buildings:


View to the right side of the bridge:


Wonderful restored building:

Another neat building (do you see all the boots attached to the building?!):

The boardwalk on the public side of the fence. There are some private areas (as people live here year round), so please make sure to respect their privacy if you decide to visit!

The Eva. A historic boat which you might read of in the history:

It's so much easier to give you links to Finn Slough's history and provide you with photos, than to try and educate you on history, here.

Some history of Finn Slough:
http://www.michaelkluckner.com/bciw1finnslough.html

http://www.finnslough.com/Heritage%20Pages/a_small_history_of_finn_slough.htm

And the Finn Slough Heritage & Wetland Society

We also visited the historic Steveston waterfront, which has quite a few restored or reconstructed buildings and lots of posted history...though it was starting to get a little dingy out, so I'll only post a few photos. It's definitely an interesting place to take the kids (or your partner) and browse around!

After the historic waterfront area, we took a quick trip through the shopping area of the Village of Steveston, but it ws pretty dark by that point...I've got to come back in the summer, for sure!!

All in all, very interesting, rain and all! The Lower Mainland area has a lot of history...which I know we forget about too much. If you get a chance, check out Richmond...PLUS the Steveston Village has tons of interesting little shops and eateries so that you can make it a whole-day trip. :o)