Reader Katherine shared her pictures from Stevenston, British Columbia, Canada, or as most of us know it as — Storybrooke. The home of Emma, Regina, Henry, Charming & Snow, Mr. Gold and all our favorite characters from Once Upon A Time!
While the entire show is not filmed there, it is recognizable to those that are familiar to the show. The street and a lot of storefronts are used and even some of the actual stores on the inside are used. The ice cream store, Any Given Sundae, is just a store front (the inside of the store is a set on a studio lot somewhere else). The Steveston Cannery Cafe (also know as Granny’s Diner) is another one that they (surprisingly!) only use the outside of. The inside is also a set at another location. And the real building (Steveston Cannery Cafe) has recently closed it’s doors for good and the building has been sold – but OUAT has permission to still film the outside. But it’s sad that you can’t actually eat there anymore.
While you’re roaming the streets of Storybrooke, be on the lookout of Leroy’s garage and the door that was used for Archie’s office.
Also, it appears some stores have embraced the town’s fame from the OUAT filming and have adopted “Storybrooke” as part of their business – like this bakery that is not in the show.
It’s Posh! is the store used for Mr. Gold’s Pawnshop. The window is recognizable because it actually says “Mr. Gold’s Pawnshop” and the first 25 feet of the building on the inside is cleared out because that actually film the pawnshop scenes in there!
When the OUAT crew is not filming, you can visit It’s Posh for your OUAT merchandise fix! Like your very own “Entering Storybrooke” sign. The back of the store is an antique shop and the owner of the show says that Regina and Rumpelstiltskin hang out in the antique shop when they are between scenes.
If you decide to visit Steveston, be sure to drop by the post office. They sell a lot of Once Upon a Time merchandise and are friendly and helpful. There is also a candy store (not used in the show) that sells Once Upon a Time candies and is frequented often by Henry!
If you have been to Steveston (or if you decide to go) please tell us about it and share pictures!