I first visited Steelhead, albeit very briefly, earlier this year when I was poking my nose into mazes around Second Life and dropped in on the Southwest Gate Hedge Maze of Nevermoor. I had a quick look around at the time and added Steelhead to my list of places to review for my series on SL destinations – something I finally managed to do over the past few days.
Steelhead is described as “an American Victorian Steampunk Community in the Second Life Nestled in the Coastal Pacific Northwest”. It’s a group of seven regions, which bring together commercial, residential and role-play elements in a themed community focused steampunk and which bring together an eclectic and fascinating range of themes.
Steelhead Port Harbour
There are a number of teleport points through the community, so rather than scatter them across this article, I’ll list them at the end.
Steelhead itself is the commercial centre for the community. here you’ll find the train station, stores and wide streets and the town hall, wherein a weekly meeting of residents is held to discuss community matters. To the west of this is Steelhead Shanghai, a fascinating “Sino-steampunk” region which brought to mind photos I’ve seen of the Hong Kong harbour front circa the 1920s (although Hong Kong admittedly never had dirigible junks sitting on the waterfront).
Steelhead Shanghai
Steelhead Harborside is mostly residential, and offers a nice walk along footpaths bordered by houses which keep to the theme of the community, and across bridges over canal-like waterways which give the place a very homely and attractive feel. To the north sits Steelhead Nevermoor, which brings a touch of mystery and magic to the estate (and which I most enjoy exploring at night). It is also where you can find the maze mentioned at the top of this article.
Steelhead Nevermoor
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