July 27, 2012 | Tips from Travellers >
Smithers, Museums
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Did you know that if it were not for Telkwa, Smithers wouldn’t exist? On my trip to the Telkwa Museum I learned that Telkwa, which was originally known as Aldermere, was first settled in 1904 and in no time, became home to the Bulkley Valley’s first general store, post office, hotel and newspaper. When land prospectors heard that the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway would be coming to town they quickly snatched up land in the Telkwa area, hoping to make a pretty penny. Instead the railway decided to pass by the prime real-estate and place a railway stop in the middle of a swamp about 15 km further down the line. This swamp is what would later become the lively town of Smithers. Once I found out that Telkwa, our little sister town down the road, is actually older than Smithers I was eager to find out more! So I picked up a brochure for a walking tour through historic Telkwa and I set off. The entire tour has 26 stops, but one of my favorite was St. Stephen’s Anglican Church. The building is over 100 years old and is surrounded by a quaint little garden with a rustic gate. I also enjoyed my walk over the Telkwa Train Bridge, the original bridge was built in 1937, but the current one has been restructured and equipped with a safe pedestrian path. All of these sites are in walking distance and I found that the best way to enjoy them was with an ice-cream cone in-hand, so make sure you snag a snack from the little ice-cream booth right beside the museum before you head out.
August 04, 2011 | Tips from Travellers >
Smithers, Museums
Having trouble spotting Northern BC's elusive wildlife? A trip to Adam's Igloo 8km west of Smithers on Hwy 16 will give you ample viewing opportunities of all the region's animals! Just look for the big white igloo alongside the highway!
I recently visited Adam's Igloo and was surprised at the huge variety of wildlife that is there! He has specimens of every animal from a bumblebee to the biggest moose I've ever seen! The animals are all displayed in a very natural looking setting, often interacting with each other against the beautifully painted mural backdrop. Be sure to look in every nook and cranny of the scenes, because there's sure to be some little animal poking out to say hello! I especially enjoyed the lynx that's trying to swat a bird out of the sky!
The museum is open 9am-7pm daily, but even if the open sign isn't on and the silver truck is in the driveway, feel free to ring the doorbell. If the owner's around, he'll happily let you in and tell you all about his collection!
July 17, 2011 | Tips from Travellers >
Smithers, Museums
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Have you taken part in the Smithers Culture Crawl yet? I worked my way through this self-guided tour and learned a lot about the history of Smithers!
First stop: I picked up my self-guided-tour-pamphlet at the BV Museum (corner of Main St & Hwy 16) and viewed the displays there before venturing out for the rest of the tour. Don't miss the exhibit about the household items that was invented by one of the ingenuous locals!
Next, I walked the one block over to Safeway, where I learned how our great recreational ski facilities came to be - love the retro ski suits! I then headed down Main St to Schimmels Fine Pastries to see the photos depicting the early Dutch settlers and the difficulties that faced our first farmers...and of course I couldn't help but enjoy a nice big apple turnover while I was there! Down the street in Hometown Furniture, I learned about our earliest Swiss settlers who arrived shortly before the previously mentioned Dutch settlers. After a quick hop over to the Old Church located at King St & 1st Ave to see the beautiful gardens (which are particularly lush this year thanks to all the rain!), I ventured over into the residential part of town to see a couple of the Aladdin Company "Kit Homes" that were built here in 1920. I've driven by these houses plenty of times without realizing the history behind them, so it was really neat to learn their story!
It was really neat learning about Smithers' history within the present downtown setting, and I sure couldn't complain about the chance to eat some tasty pastries along the way either! This is definitely a great tour to check out when you're in Smithers
August 09, 2010 | Tips from Travellers >
Smithers, Museums
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Full of local artefacts and history, the Bulkley Valley Museum has it all. A great place to stop if you're interested in the history of the Bulkley Valley and of Canadian pioneers, the knowledgeable staff will tell you about the history of our area.
I received a tour from one of the staff through the museum, which was great - I had always been to the museum on school trips, and as a kid with my parents, but I saw it from a completely different perspective being older (and perhaps wiser).
Seeing what my home town used to look like, and to see how it's grown in the last 100 years is amazing. I couldn't imagine how difficult it would have been to explore this vast, and beautiful, country.
There's so much to see - and learn - from our local museum. They'll show you through the exhibits - one especially that is a surprise to people is an invention from Smithers that no one can actually believe at first because it affects so many people world wide. I won't tell you what it is (you'll have to see it for yourself!) but it is simply (HINT) "eggceptional"!
The building itself is something to explore- built in 1925, it was the original courthouse for Smithers. So drop by if you're going through Smithers - you won't regret it!