Join us for our next lecture - A Perfect Eden, new items in our gift shop for adventurers, and have you heard of Lewistown?

Courtenay & District Museum




  • Lecture: A Perfect Eden
  • Gift Shop News
  • Your Membership and Donations Make A Difference
  • Watershed Moments
  • 2018 BC Paleontological Symposium
  • Comox Valley Genealogy
  • It's All There in Black and White
  • Photo of the Month
  • Museum Funding






  • Phone:
    250-334-0686

    Email:
    museum@island.net

    Website:
    www.courtenaymuseum.ca

    Mailing Address:
    207 Fourth Street,
    Courtenay BC,
    V9N 1G7





    Tuesday to Saturday:
    10am - 5pm

    Sunday & Monday:
    Closed





    President
    John Wilson

    Vice President
    Daryl Wright

    Past President
    April Shopland

    Rick Ross
    Jim Haggart
    Ross Dingwall
    Mary Everson
    Julie Fortin

    Secretary/Treasurer
    Elizabeth Braithwaite

    Member of...

    British Columbia Museums Association

    Canadian Museums
    Association

    Archives Association of
    British Columbia

    British Columbia Historical Federation





    Comox Museum

    Cumberland Museum

    Comox Air Force Museum

    Filberg Heritage Lodge

    I-Hos Gallery

    HMCS ALBERNI Museum and Memorial

    Nim Nim Interpretive Centre




     


    Lecture: A Perfect Eden

    Time and Date: 7 pm, Tuesday, April 24, 2018
    Location: Rotary Gallery of the Courtenay and District Museum
    Speaker: Michael Layland
    Tickets: $5 for Historical Society members; $6 for general public (plus GST). Advance tickets strongly recommended as lecture series frequently sells out. Tickets can be purchased over the phone by calling 250-334-0686 ext 5.

    In 1842, when explorer James Douglas encountered the rugged natural paradise that would become Vancouver Island, he described it as "a perfect Eden." This talk, based on Layland's book of the same name, will touch on the early recorded histories and personal accounts left by Chinese seafarers, Spanish and British naval officers, traders seeking sea otter pelts, colonial surveyors, as well as soldiers, settlers, and other adventurers, starting from many centuries ago up to 1858.

    Continue Reading

    This presentation is made possible with financial assistance from The Canada Council for the Arts through The Writers' Union of Canada.


     


    Gift Shop News

    New season, new stock!

    The gift shop now carries Backroad Mapbooks. You can purchase the 8th edition of Vancouver Island - Victoria and Gulf Islands - Adventure maps and guide book for $25.95. This includes great information on parks, recreation sites, trails, fishing, hunting, paddling and more.

    Or what about one of the Backroad Mapbooks for Vancouver Island Fishing 3rd edition? This includes lakes and rivers, depth charts, maps, directions, species, tips and techniques and stock information. The cost is $27.95.

    To top it off, if you are looking for adventure topographic maps we have fabulous tear resistant, waterproof Vancouver Island South or North maps. These maps are amazing and extremely popular. The cost is $14.95 each.


     

    Your Membership and Donations Make A Difference

    Purchasing a membership to the Courtenay and District Museum, now in its 57th year, supports heritage preservation in the Comox Valley through special events, lectures, education programmes, research and exhibitions. Your membership benefits these award winning programmes on a year round basis and we appreciate it!

    Becoming a member provides you with discounts in the gift shop and on lectures and an opportunity to support one of the most active regional museums in British Columbia. Thank you for your support.

    Click here to Join

    Click Here to Make a Donation


     

    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: Courtenay's original city centre, ca. 1905. Walter Gage photograph. Photo: CDM 972.270.2. Page 62-63.

    Photo caption: ""Lewistown," as some called it, was just across from the head of the slough, at the junction of Dyke Road and Upper Prairie Road. It became a thriving commercial centre...Opposite the hotel was McKean & Biscoe's dry goods and grocery store. The Masonic Lodge met on the upper floor of this building for thirty-three years. Courtenay's first bank, the Royal Bank of Canada, opened here in 1909." Page 63.

    Click Here for a Larger Version



     

    2018 BC Paleontological Symposium

    Don't miss the 2018 BC Paleontological Symposium in Courtenay from August 17-20. Keynote Speaker, Dr. Richard Hebda and Special Guest Speaker, Artist, Ray Troll, will lead off the 2018 12th BC Paleontological Association Symposium in Courtenay. Everyone is invited.

    Supported by the Vancouver Island Paleontological Society and the Courtenay and District Museum, the symposium will feature 15 formal presentations, field trips and a fossil prep workshop. Historically, the BCPA symposiums feature an art exhibit of varied media and paleo-imagination and this tradition will continue. In tandem with the symposium, the museum will be hosting an exhibit of in-house and private fossil collections from May to December.

    Symposium registration fees are $150 + GST for professional paleontologists and non-BCPA members; $120 + GST for BCPA members and $100 for students. This includes all activities except field trips and workshops.

    Here's more information on the symposium outline and guest speakers

    Click here to Download the Registration Form


     

    Comox Valley Genealogy

    A reminder that the Comox Valley Genealogy Group meets on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 1:00 pm in the Courtenay Library. Meetings feature guest speakers and a chance for members to share their discoveries. All are welcome!

    FMI: info@cvgenealogygroup.org


     


    It's All There in Black and White

    Can you believe it's been 50 years since G.P. Vanier Senior Secondary School officially opened? This article from the April 10, 1968 Comox District Free Press contains interesting tidbits about the school and its' namesake.

    Read More

    With legacy support from the Bickle Family and the Comox Valley Echo.


     


    Photo of the Month

    CDM #989.183.161
    Sea plane, 1939

    You can view more photos like this on our website. Click here to visit our holdings.


     

    Museum Funding

    The Courtenay and District Historical Society was registered as a nonprofit society in 1961 to preserve and interpret cultural and natural heritage of the Comox Valley. It has functioned as an independent society since that time. Funds are derived from the generous support of the City of Courtenay, British Columbia Arts Council, Comox Valley Regional District, British Columbia Gaming Branch, and from museum generated revenues and donations.

    Proud sponsors of the Courtenay & District Museum:

    The City of Courtenay

    BC Arts Councils

    Regional District Comox-Strathcona

    British Columbia Gaming Commision