Latest News
Summer Hours
The Courtenay and District Museum is now on its summer operating schedule and is open Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 5:00 and Sundays from 12:00 to 4:00 until Labour Day. As always, members visit free.
June 2017 Gift Shop News
Our exciting gift shop expansion has also expanded our merchandise selection! There are many new items to discover: everything from an up-dated design of elasmosaur baseball hats to t-rex mugs to stuffie gnomlins. We continue to feature locally crafted gift items including some from Knotty Handmade Creations of Royston. This clever company has a wide variety of old fashioned cotton knit dish cloths, flower scrubbies and pot holders. The cheerful designs include fruit, cats, and starfish in fun, upbeat colours. Knotty Handmade Creations also produces finger puppets and we're carrying unicorns, octopus, dinosaurs and even elasmosaurs! Ding Ding Dillio Crafts of Courtenay has come [...]
The 1967 Canada Day Parade
CDM 2008.79.32 Bagpipers galore in front of the old Rexall Drugs on Fifth Street, courtesy of George Law.
It’s All There in Black and White: The 1967 Centennial in the Comox Valley
The Valley celebrated Canada's 1967 centennial in style with several events along the Courtenay River. Take a look at this listing from the June 14, 1967 Comox District Free Press - you'll never believe what was planned for a river barge! Click for Larger Image Click for Larger Image
Canada Day Celebration
Event: Museum Open House Time: 12 noon to 4 pm Everyone is invited to the museum's annual open house! While you're here, take a few moments to check out our expanded exhibits "Pacific Connections" and "Itineraries" which were created in honour of Canada's 150th birthday. We've got activities and surprises planned for the big day so be sure to drop by.
Lecture: Pacific Reef & Shore
Time and Date: 7 pm, Tuesday, June 27, 2017 Location: Rotary Gallery of the Courtenay and District Museum Speaker: Rick Harbo Tickets: $5 for Historical Society members; $6 for general public (plus GST). Advance tickets recommended. Tickets can be purchased over the phone by calling 250-334-0686 ext 5. Just in time for beach season, biologist Rick Harbo presents a colourful talk and slide show on Pacific marine life. Continue Reading
Cottonwood Auto Court Cabins
CDM 2003.73.1.
May 2017 Watershed Moments
Here is the latest newsletter installment of an image and quote from the museum’s award-winning book Watershed Moments – A Pictorial History of Courtenay and District. Photo credit: Staff of the Comox Valley Cannery, September 1934. Charles Sillence photograph. CDM 2004.42.133. Page 170-171. Photo caption: "As the Great Depression took hold in the Comox Valley, P.H. Harrison's decision to open a cannery on the banks of the Courtenay River was welcome news. He built a large two-storey building on the east side of the river, and operations began on May 30, 1934. About fifty women clad in white and green uniforms packed the first [...]
May 2017 Gift Shop News
The museum shop is bursting at the seams! So many new items have been arriving that we've expanded its size and re-arranged the front reception area. One new item that is very popular is a set of three storage caddies from UK manufacturer Emma Bridgewater. A recent customer found a novel use for them: fill with home baked goodies and give as a hostess gift. The caddies are also available individually and have matching rectangular shaped tins to boot.
Thanks to…
everyone who helped make the Spring Fling and Easter Things 2017 event such a huge success. This year we had over 600 visitors through the doors. Special thanks to the following groups and individuals: Shamrock Gumboots 4H Club Hot Chocolates Easter bunny Gillian Legendre from Detailed Face Painting volunteers from MARS (Mountainaire Avian Rescue Society). We look forward to doing it again next year!
It’s All There in Black and White: The Origin of Simms Park
Big changes were afoot in 1981 for the property we now know as Simms Park with major land alteration underway as noted in this May 18 Comox District Free Press article. Click for Larger Image Click for Larger Image
Lecture: Nootka Sound Crisis
Time and Date: 7 pm, Wednesday, May 10, 2017 Location: Rotary Gallery of the Courtenay and District Museum Speaker: Catherine Gilbert Tickets: $5 for Historical Society members; $6 for general public (plus GST). Advance tickets recommended. Tickets can be purchased over the phone by calling 250-334-0686 ext 5. Questions about the settlement of Nootka Island will be explored by historian Catherine Gilbert in her pictorial presentation about the Nootka Sound Crisis. Gilbert will also discuss the role played by the Mowachaht and the relationship between successive European captains and the powerful Mowachaht Chief Maquinna. Continue Reading
April Watershed Moments
Here is the latest newsletter installment of an image and quote from the museum’s award-winning book Watershed Moments – A Pictorial History of Courtenay and District. Photo credit: Coke ovens at Union Bay, ca. 1905. CDM 979.3.31 Photo caption: "In 1895, James Dunsmuir’s Union Coal Company built two rows of fifty ovens into an embankment on a foundation of limestone quarried on Denman Island. Workers built the ovens, which were eleven feet in diameter, with angled brick imported from Scotland. Japanese labourers and several Scottish bricklayers brought over specially for the project did much of the work with teams of horses." Page 55.