It was home to a close-knit community of families, as well as an iron foundry, mill and timber yard.
The saw mill was the last major link to the area’s industrial past, as it became home to Howarth Timber, before eventually making way for the Gateway hotel and residential development in the 2000s.
While you may not see it listed on many maps today, some relics of Steander’s past still exist to this day.
1. Steander now and then
Steander was a working class neighbourhood in the east end of Leeds City Centre, close to the much larger Bank housing development. Photo: Richard Beecham/Leodis
2. Steander from Crown Point Road
The former community of Steander from Crown Point Road, close to the River Aire. A small power station sat to the left of the picture during the 1920s, while the Leeds old Foundry sat in the distance. Photo: Richard Beecham
3. Junction of East Street and Steander
This was taken during the 1905 East Street Improvement Programme, where much of the decaying infrastructure was lost. There is a grocer and a tobacconist on the East Street side, while a young boy is leaning against a streetlamp on the corner. The site is now a small patch of overgrown grassland next to the hotel and flats complex. (By kind permission of Leeds Libraries, www.leodis.net.) Photo: Leodis
4. Fearns Island - AKA Far Steander
Believe it or not, Fearn's Island - known as Far Steander Island during the 19th century - used to be a bustling hive of activity, with a dye works and paper bag manufacturer housed on the site, according to a 1921 map. Photo: Richard Beecham
5. Steander Mills, East Street
A 1937 image of Steander Mills, just off East Street. (By kind permission of Leeds Libraries, www.leodis.net) Photo: Leodis
6. East Street Mills
According to an insurance plan of Leeds from 1902, the current East Street Mills building (pictured) was one of Steander's biggest employers, as it was home to J Crawford & Sons linen mill. Old advertisements can still be seen on the side of the building, for wool and cloth care businesses. Photo: Richard Beecham