Steveston Telephone Exchange

The Steveston Telephone Exchange is a simple, one storey, hip-roofed structure with a corner porch. Located on No. 1 Road in the Steveston area of Richmond, it sits slightly below road grade. The historic place is confined to the footprint of the building.

The heritage value of the Steveston Telephone Exchange lies in its historical use as the first telephone exchange and office for the Steveston area of Richmond. In 1891, the New Westminster and Burrard Telephone Company installed telephone service to Steveston via Eburne and Marpole with several early subscribers, while a comprehensive telephone system for the entire Municipality of Richmond was planned in 1905. The Steveston exchange, owned by the B.C. Telephone Company which purchased the original line in 1904, operated in this location from 1914 to 1954. The arrival of the telephone represented another means of communication which could easily link the still-distant communities around Lulu Island during Richmond's initial period of municipal growth and industrialization.

Likely constructed earlier than its occupation by the Telephone Exchange, the small building has design features more residential than commercial, and may have been selected for its prominent Steveston location.

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

Character defining elements of the Steveston Telephone Exchange include:

- Its location at a prominent intersection in Steveston and its relationship to No. 1 Road

- Its residential character which contrasts with its technological use

- The hipped roof with a central hipped gable window and a hipped porch extension on the south side

- Exterior design details, including a front dormer window, square columns supporting the porch roof, lapped wooden siding, double hung wooden sash windows, and exposed rafter ends