Museums in the Kootenay Rockies region pay tribute to industries and settlers.
The Revelstoke Railway Museum celebrates workers that built the most treacherous section of Canada's first transcontinental railway, while Trains Deluxe – The Canadian Museum of Rail Travel in Cranbrook relives the glory days of rail travel.
Learn about Doukhobor culture at the Doukhobor Discovery Centre (in Castlegar). Uncover the world of mining at the Rossland Museum or climb onboard the SS Moyie – the world's oldest intact steam-passenger sternwheeler.
Railway Museums
At the Revelstoke Railway Museum, tour beautifully restored rail cars, including the CPR locomotive #5468 – one of the larger steam engines ever used on CPR lines. Anecdotes told by staff add to the experience.
Trains Deluxe – The Canadian Museum of Rail Travel in Cranbrook features complete "train sets" from various eras. On a guided tour, explore the museum's 28 luxurious rail cars, which are adorned with stained glass, inlaid woods and brass fixtures.
Mining and Forestry Museums
Head to the Rossland Museum to uncover the lives of industrious miners, peer at mining artifacts and learn about geology. The Rossland Museum also has replicated early 20th century homesteads: wander through the kitchen, parlour room and even the Rossland Post Office.
The BC Interior Forestry Museum (in Revelstoke) educates about the regional forestry industry. Interesting items include a rare left-handed chainsaw, an old logging truck, a “slice” of an Engelmann Spruce tree and a re-created 1921 Fire Lookout Station.
Unique Museums
In 1908, the Doukhobors – a group of Russian pacifists – migrated to Castlegar. The Doukhobor Discovery Centre recreates a traditional communal village. See household furniture, handspun clothing, farm equipment and old photographs. Traditional food (like creamy borsch) rounds out the experience.
The SS Moyie is a great example of a living history museum. Permanently docked in Kaslo, it offers a realistic self-guided onboard experience (complete with sound effects). View the ship's dining saloon, pilot house, and even the engine room: the pumps and engines are shining examples of 19th-century steam technology.
Community Museums
For the musically inclined, the Revelstoke Nickelodeon Museum has a unique collection of mechanical musical instruments from the 1800s to the 1950s. Admire pipe organs, Victorian music boxes and player pianos, and listen as cheerful music fills the room. A 1940’s wooden video jukebox shows “soundies” (the first music videos).
The Touchstones Nelson Museum of Art & History has permanent exhibits that celebrate Nelson’s history, Aboriginal peoples and its current culture, while temporary exhibits showcase the town’s contemporary artists.
The eclectic Silvery Slocan Museum in New Denver is brimming with artifacts and photographs depicting local life in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Venture into an old Bank of Montreal vault or pore over rows of antique typewriters.
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