Latest News
It’s All There in Black and White: Pioneer Tales
History buffs will want to take a few minutes to read through the reminiscences of Ellen McKay from this September 11, 1952 Comox District Free Press article - it includes some little known tidbits about our valley. BTW, Mrs. McKay lived to see her 99th year. With legacy support from the Bickle Family and the Comox Valley Echo. Click for Larger Image Click for Larger Image
Winter Hours
The museum is now operating on our winter hours schedule. Please note that we are open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm.
September Watershed Moments
Here now is an image and quote from the museum's award-winning book Watershed Moments - A Pictorial History of Courtenay and District. Enjoy! Photo credit: CDM 979.3.2 Page 45. Photo caption: "In 1874, the government provided a grant to construct a wharf at Comox Landing on James Robb's land. The cost of the 12-foot-wide, 1,035-foot-long wharf was $3,337. The wharf head was fifty by sixty feet across, which made it possible for larger ships, like those operated by Canadian Pacific Navigation and Union Steamships, to deliver and offload passengers, cargo and mail." Page 44.
School Days
Did you know that the Courtenay Museum offers a range of education programmes for groups of children? Check out the possibilities
Lecture: Whelks to Whales in the Salish Sea
Time and Date: 2 pm, Saturday, October 1st, 2016 Location: Rotary Gallery of the Courtenay and District Museum Speaker: Rick Harbo Tickets: $5 for adult Historical Society members; $6 for adult non-members and $2.50 for any child 4 and over. (GST not included.) Advance tickets are recommended. Don't miss this opportunity to learn more about marine life of the Strait of Georgia - past, present and future. Click Here for Details
Leung’s Heritage Mural Project
If you’re in the mood for crowdfunding and improving community heritage, the CDM staff and board, along with the Capes project, also want to give a shout out to the Leung's Heritage Mural supported by the DCBIA. Make it a twofer and support both projects!
Raising the Capes Roof Crowdfunding Gaining Traction
The Raising the Capes Roof crowdfunding is moving along quickly thanks to generous donors who have taken the amount from $20 to over $1,800 in the last month. The museum aims to raise $5,000 towards a new roof and will match this amount with other fundraising dollars. Katherine Capes donated the historic Capes home to the museum in the late 1990s Thank you to everyone for your ongoing and generous support! Click Here to Donate
It’s All There in Black and White: Kim Cattrall
Internationally known actor, writer and producer Kim Cattrall celebrates her 60th birthday on August 21st. The Comox District Free Press was following the career of this home town girl from way back as evidenced by this forty-year-old excerpt from the August 20, 1976 edition of the paper. With legacy support from the Bickle Family and the Comox Valley Echo.
August Watershed Moments
Here now is an image and quote from the museum's award-winning book Watershed Moments - A Pictorial History of Courtenay and District. Photo credit: CDM 986.15.17 Photo caption: Amidst the wreckage of the 1920 railway explosion. Page 101. "On August 18, 1920, however, after pulling a train of fifteen loaded cars up a steady slope, #4 Engine stalled. The crew of #3 Engine came to the rescue and pulled the loaded train to a level spot. As soon as #3 uncoupled and pulled away, #4's boiler exploded, sending large pieces of boilerplate into the air before landing 120 feet from the wheels. (A later [...]
Gift Shop News: July 2016
From the fertile imagination of Ding Ding Dilly Crafts comes these charming replicas of the museum's African lungfish, Slugzilla. Available in our shop for only $13 each.
Capes Escape Roof Fundraiser
The Courtenay Museum has started a crowdfunding campaign to raise the roof at Capes Escape. We're aiming for a fall redo of the roof of this great historic home and have teamed up with FundRazr and InvestLocalBC to crowdfund some matching dollars. In the 1990s, Katherine Capes, one of the first female archaeologists in Canada and a founder of our fifty-five-year-old society, donated her home and seven acres as a legacy in perpetuity to the museum. Everything is in great shape on the house--except the roof! The estimates we've received take us to a total of $10,000. We're asking donors to help us with [...]
July Watershed Moments
Here now is an image and quote from the museum's award-winning book Watershed Moments - A Pictorial History of Courtenay and District. Click for a Larger Image Photo credit: CDM 990.24.107 Photo caption: Dairy farmer Frank Childs with his family. Left to right: Frank, Mary Jane, Edith and Jane, ca. 1905. Walter Gage photograph. Page 89. "Jane loved horses, and as a young girl would often be seen riding throughout the valley. She especially loved riding along with her father as they shot deer and quail for the family dinner. She was a "crack shot," as was her son Robert. Robert was so proficient [...]
It’s All There in Black and White: Sweep for Bombs
An intriguing flashback from the Comox District Free Press July 11, 1973 edition. With legacy support from the Bickle Family and the Comox Valley Echo. Click for Larger Image Click for Larger Image