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Welcoming In the New Year
A charming photo of the roadway north of Courtenay, c. 1905. The card was sent to Theed Pearse from John William Flinton, possibly between 1918 and 1926 when Flinton was the vicar of St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Sandwick. The image was captured by Walter Gage.
Flinton (1868-1938) came to Vancouver Island as a missionary in the early 1890s. He served over half a dozen parishes on the island before retiring to Victoria.
Getting the Word Out: Pat Trask and the Elasmosaur
Check out Courtenay Museum Natural History Curator, Pat Trask, as he talks about the Comox Valley elasmosaur in a recent Instagram reel by the Government of BC. The museum would like to extend a huge thank you to Hayley Antonissen and her video production team for making this happen!
Click Here for the Full Video on Instgram
Click here to read more about how the elasmosaur became BC’s provincial fossil in 2023.
Last Chance – Dinosaurs of BC
Dinosaurs of BC, a travelling exhibit produced by the Royal BC Museum, will be moving on to its next venue soon. The last day to see it here is Saturday, February 1, 2025.
If you haven’t visited yet, plan to drop in to our second-floor gallery and dig into prehistoric British Columbia. The exhibit allows you to get up close and personal with “Buster”, the Iron Lizard of the Sustut River.
You can also follow the footsteps of tyrannosaurs and ankylosaurs, see beautifully preserved marine fossils, and learn about research done by the Royal BC Museum’s palaeontology team.
Self-guided group tours are available from January 2nd to 31st by donation. Don’t miss this exciting opportunity—call 250-334-0686 ext. 2 to book your visit today!
It’s All There in Black and White
Can you solve this century-old mystery? This article from the January 15, 1925 edition of the Comox Argus gave an eyewitness account of a shady smuggling operation at present-day 6th Street in downtown Courtenay.
Witnesses could have contacted the local telephone operator and asked for city police officer James Cairns at phone number 21 with tips or leads.
Read the Article
Victoria Arbour Lecture Wrap-Up
Dr. Victoria Arbour gave an engaging illustrated lecture on A New Look at the Dinosaurs of British Columbia to a full crowd in the museum’s Rotary Gallery on December 3. Her presentation centered on a dinosaur discovered on the Spateze Plateau in northern British Columbia, dated from about 68 million years ago: Ferrisaurus sustutensis, "the Iron Lizard of the Sustut River."
While Dr. Arbour is a dinosaur specialist and the large vertebrate fossils that have been found to date on Vancouver Island are marine reptiles, she and her team from the RBCM were impressed with the Courtenay Museum’s lab and collection. Natural History Curator, Pat Trask, led the private tour.
Answers to the Name of...
It's been 37 years since an elasmosaur was discovered in the Puntledge River. Today, there are over a dozen different genera and several species of elasmosaurs found worldwide, and the Comox Valley elasmosaur is now considered a completely new genus and species among them.
A new scientific paper has been written by elasmosaur specialists Dr. Frank Robin O'Keefe from Marshall University in West Virginia, with help from his colleagues. Following peer review, the same elasmosaur that has recently become the provincial fossil of BC will have its own scientific name. Stay tuned for future announcements!
From the Archives: Photo of the Month
CDM #986.73.1 Blunt & Ewart’s Garage, Courtenay, c.1923
You can view more photos like this on our website. Click here to visit our holdings.
Your Membership and Donations Make A Difference
Purchasing a membership to the Courtenay and District Museum, now in its 64th 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
Check out our Instagram!
The museum is scheduling lectures and events into the new year, so follow us on Instagram and stay up to date on all events and news.
Also, if you have experienced one of our weekly events or our fossil tours feel free to post a pic and tag us with #CourtenayandDistrictMuseum, we would love to see your posts!
Visit our Instagram
#CourtenayandDistrictMuseum
We Want Your Feedback
If you’ve been to the museum recently, we’re interested in your feedback. Fill out our short survey to explore what people enjoy and where they’re visiting from.
Click here to take the survey
Museum Funding
In 1961, founders of the Courtenay and District Historical Society began with a regional mandate to create the Courtenay and District Museum (CDM) to collect, preserve and interpret natural and cultural heritage of the Comox Valley. Core values encompass integrity, inclusiveness, community service, rigorous research, objective interpretation and public outreach.
Proud sponsors of the Courtenay & District Museum:
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