Britannia Shipyards Museum

Britannia Shipyards is an open air museum in the village of Steveston near the mouth of the Fraser River. Steveston is a major port for the Fraser salmon fishery, and canneries and ship repair were major industries before being moved to different locations.
This shipyard was preserved as a museum while all the other industrial sites were converted to housing complexes.
In the first half of the last century the majority of the population was Japanese immigrants. After Pearl Harbour they were rounded up and either forced return to Japan, or in the case of those born in Canada, interred far from the Pacific coast. Their property, houses, shops and fishing boats were sold for pennies on the dollar. Some eventually returned after the war and today Steveston does have a significant Japanese population but it is a fraction of what it was originally. The entire saga of the Japanese interment is a black mark in Canadian history.
This museum honours Japanese contributions to the history of the region.
This is a replica of original Japanese family homes in the boggy flats near the bank of the river.
Extras are a very old fishing boat, and the boat repair shop where it might eventually end up, being preserved by volunteer tradesmen.