Scrapbooking 1890s style

This beautiful Valentine’s Day card is from Minnie Berkeley’s scrapbook which was donated to the archives over 45 years ago.

Minnie was 14 years old when she started compiling her book in 1894. She filled the pages with pressed flowers, inspirational messages and fun snippets like cartoons and calling cards.

Scrapbooking as a hobby continues today. Museum and archive enthusiasts share an affinity with these memory keeping crafters.

BC Heritage Week, February 15-21, 2021

A message from Heritage BC:

Where do you find heritage?

Do you find it in the buildings that make your community unique or do you hear it in the special stories your family tells? Perhaps you experience it at cultural festivals and in the taste of many cuisines. Or maybe you find it on your favourite hikes and when you stop to admire scenes of rivers, fields and hills. Or you think of the generations of people who came before you or the newcomers to your community.

Look around you and you will find heritage everywhere.

#BCHeritageWeek / #MyBCis / #MyCanadais

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Stepping into Wilderness

Here now is an image from the museum’s newest book Step into Wilderness – A Pictorial History of Outdoor Exploration in and around the Comox Valley.

Photo credit: Cecil (Cougar) Smith (left) playing with cougar kittens, 1938. Smith was a cougar hunter and made a living by hunting from the bounty offered by the provincial government, which was later rescinded. S.B.W. (Dusty) d’Esterre photograph. Photo: 989.183.77. Page 185.

Click for Larger Image

World Thinking Day

G.W. (Bill) Stubbs had his Grade 8 students perform a novel task: keep a record of their school days through a kind of “week in review” writing assignment.

This amusing story from May 13, 1946 was written by Doreen McQuillan. It’s related to Girl Guides and presented this month in honour of February’s World Thinking Day.

..."Thursday was a big day, for although away from school I saw Lady Baden Powell which I should say was more educational if anything is! Two chartered buses pulled out at ten A.M. with about one hundred Guides and Brownies from all over the district."

Read more to find out why they "had the time of their lives"

Gift Shop News

The gift shop now offers stylish artisan jewelry from GypsyChic, made by Royston artist Cheryl Webster. We carry a variety of colourful earrings, bracelets and necklaces for sale. All the jewelry is lead, nickel and plastic free. The beads and charms, which are purchased from artists locally and worldwide, are put together by Cheryl to create unique designer pieces.

Your Membership and Donations Make A Difference

Purchasing a membership to the Courtenay and District Museum, now in its 60th 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

Photo of the Month

CDM #990.24.161 McPhee Store Warehouse, along Courtenay River, c. 1905

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

It's All There in Black and White

February 1, 1968 marked the unification of the Canadian Armed Forces. In the Comox Valley, the event was marked in a "special" way as seen in this front page story from the February 7, 1968 Comox District Free Press.

Read More

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

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: