Once upon a time in Steveston

Good versus evil in a television fairytale

Once upon a time my home was in Steveston, B.C., a small village at the mouth of the Fraser River in the city of Richmond. Thirty years ago Steveston was a sleepy little village with a few banks, restaurants, marine stores and a small post office.

Hollywood discovered this quaint picturesque village and movies such as Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud and the television series The X-Files have been filmed here. More recently, Steveston is the location for ABC’s fantasy drama Once Upon a Time, created by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. 

Once Upon a Time has just completed its second season and will return in the fall. In this television series, Steveston stands in for Storybrooke, Maine. The people who live in Storybrooke are really characters from fairy tales, frozen in time, who never age and have no memories of their former lives because of an evil curse cast upon them.

Into this unique tableau, Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison) arrives in town and is reunited with her ten-year-old son Henry Mills (Jared Gilmore). Henry believes that his mother is the daughter of Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming (Josh Dallas) and accepts that it is her role to uncover the mystery of Storybrooke.

The theme, as in most fairy tales, is good versus bad, with Emma Swan, Snow White and Prince Charming representing the good. The evil is represented by Regina Mills (Lana Parrilla), Mr. Gold/Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle) and Captain Hook (Colin O’Donoghue).               

Explore Steveston

Enjoy modern Steveston by walking its streets, for they are lined with restaurants, coffee shops, boutiques, art galleries, souvenir shops and even well-stocked stores for commercial fishermen. Unique stores are The Monkey Tree, Prickly Pear, Robert’s Gallery and Gifts, Lulu Island Design and the Splash Toy Shop.

Visit the little Steveston Post Office/Museum, Gulf of Georgia Cannery Historic Museum and the Japanese Cultural Centre, all located along Moncton Street. Not far away are the Britannia Shipyards and the London Heritage Farm.

Of special interest are buildings seen in the television show such as the Storybrooke Pet Shelter, Nikka Fishing Marine, Steveston Drugs and Mr. Gold’s Pawn Shop. Your visit would not be complete without a stroll along the waterfront to dine on fish ‘n’ chips at Pajo’s, a floating take-out restaurant. 

Once Upon a Time is also filmed in Langley, Fort Langley, Vancouver and Bridge Studios in Burnaby. Beginning in the fall of 2013, a spinoff will air entitled Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. As for me, season three with Jennifer Morrison cannot return soon enough.