Climb Thru Time Museum

Nestled in the hills on Highway 897, midway between Lloydminster and Wainwright, lies the village of Paradise Valley. Here is the site of a unique museum, "Climb Thru Time". It is located in the annex of the former Wheat Pool elevator. Within the annex perimeter is a 900 foot ramp reaching to the top. This ensures complete wheelchair accessibility. A spacious deck and ramp has been built leading to the museum's entrance, and the original railway station has been relocated to the site.

Visitors begin their "Climb Thru Time" thousands of years ago with a pre-history diorama, and are quickly introduced to native culture, the land survey, and homesteading. They pass through a 1920's living room, an old barn, a bedroom, a parlour at Christmas, a general store. and a one-roomed school house; they encounter the Depression, the Great War, and Alberta's natural disasters.

Numerous dioramas, models, re-creations, and displays depict various aspects of rural life, or present information about developments in agriculture. Along the museum's ramp lie glimpses of the ordinary lives of ordinary people who have created an extraordinary culture in the context of Western Canada's farms and villages. As visitors descend the ramp, they are invited for refreshments in the tea room, where local arts and crafts are also available for purchase. Home baking is provided daily by local volunteers who enioy visiting with guests from across the street or around the world.

The museum is open daily during the summer, May 1 to Thanksgiving Day,
from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p,m.

Dewberry Valley Museum

The Dewberry Valley Museum features some of the finest artifacts in Western Canada. The prehistoric era, fur trade, Rid Rebellion and pioneer days are well represented by over 3,000 pieces of real history. A pioneer cabin, complete to the last detail, shows you how pioneers lived. Glass showcases enable us to see nearly four hundred prehistoric arrowheads and some valuable pioneer collectibles.

Talented artists have added to the museum with paintings that depict prehistoric native culture, and pioneer existence in the area. A school room and general store have been set up to bring back memories of the 1930s era.

Phase Two of the Dewberry Valley Museum, a separate shed, houses antique machinery and brings back the days of threshing, plowing, milking cows, and horse and buggy days.

Phase Three, the Catholic Church in Dewberry, is the newest addition to the museum, with the goal to preserve the building as is.

Come visit us! We're open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Contact 780-847-3053 for weekend appointments.

Morrison Museum of the Country School

Located in Islay, Alberta, the Morrison Museum of the Country School offers visitors an opportunity to step back into the days of the country school house. Morrison School #1639 was formerly four miles west and one and a ha1f miles north of Islay on NE 1/4 22-51-5 west of the 4th. The school house was built in 1907, on land donated by homesteader James Morrison, and was one of the first schools operating in the area. It offered local residents Grades 1-8 and, on several occasions,
Grade 9.

The school was officially closed in 1945 and with assistance from the Alberta Teacher's Association the building was moved into Islay in the fall of 1969. The museum was officially opened on May 31, 1970 by the school's first teacher. Mrs. Minnie Moore. The museum contains a fairly complete collection of items found in a country school in the 1930s and 1940s. Housed within is the "Grade 9 table", original student desks, textbooks, chalkboards, and the upstairs kitchen, where coffee and lunch were prepared for district entertainment.

Islay is located 3 1/2 miles north of the Yellowhead Highway, and the museum is maintained and operated by the Morrison Museum Association. Contributions and inquiries are welcome.

For more information or viewing please contact: Mary Ternoster 780-744-2260. Shirley Ronaghan 780-744-2271 or write Box 4, Islay, Alberta TOB 2JO.

Vermilion Heritage Museum

The Vermilion Heritage Museum is located at 50th Avenue and 53rd Street-the former S. R. P. Cooper School. The main building houses six galleries depicting the life and times of the pioneers of this area. You will travel through time from the Indian (arrowhead) era, pioneer living conditions, equipment, clothing, military, RCMP and much, much more.
The Stavelock building, to the south of the school, was a type of construction unique to this area, supplied for the newcomers who came from Britain and settled around Clandonald. The display building on the grounds houses larger tools and equipment used by the early settlers.

The museum is open daily from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. from May to September.
Admission is by donation.
Mailing address: Vermilion Heritage Museum. Box 3612. Vermilion. AB T9X 2B6. Phone 780-853-6211.

Frenchman Butte Museum

Nestled on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River lies the hamlet of Frenchman Butte, a community proud of its history and preserving it in their ever growing museum. First established in 1980 when the late Mr. Lloyd Furman moved his collection of artifacts to the old CNR station. the Frenchman Butte Museum has remained the centre of attraction ever since.

The museum covets artifacts of the native and pioneer era, with arrowheads and spearheads, guns, agricultural and domestic collections. It also houses a library that contains 2,000 volumes, a blacksmith shop, sawmill, machinery, a Red River cart, a snappy driving buggy and the Lloyd Furman Building. A mini go1f course of historic significance will entertain young and old alike.

Street Address: Main Street. Frenchman Butte
Mailing Address:
Box 114, Frenchman Butte. SK SOM OWO
Summer Hours: 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. daily, mid June to Labour Day
Winter Hours: By appointment
Phone: 306-344-4781/344-2252/344-2103/344-4946
Museum Phone: 306-344-4478.

Lashburn Centennial Museum

Located on Main Street, Lashburn, the Centennial Museum (originally the Gully School) offers to the visitor a view of a turn of the century general hospital. On display, thanks to Mr. James Bruce, are the original fixtures, X-ray machine, hospital bed and equipment used in the 1908 hospital built by him. Numerous articles from Mr. Bruce's Tighduin farm are also displayed.

Pioneer days are brought to life with a typical parlour and bedroom of a turn of the century home. A replica of a log cabin complete with sod roof will show you the hardships our ancestors went through. Many artifacts of the Barr Colonists are on display also.

The museum is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday to Friday through July and August. other times by appointment at the Town Office. 306-285-3533, Town of Lashburn, Lashburn, SK SOM lHO.

Admission by donation.

Maidstone & District Museum

The delightful prairie town of Maidstone has restored an old CNR Station and turned it into a museum. It is combined with a pioneer village which includes an old country school, blacksmith shop, a country store, barber shop and a small country church. There is an original house which displays RCMP artifacts and a jail cell, plus much more. It is located in the Del-Frari Victoria Park.

Take a walk in time to see how a railway station operated. The living quarters is a home setting. and the school is complete with a teacher. The blacksmith shop takes you back in time with its forge and many other working artifacts. The freight shed has many artifacts. including a working loom. spinning wheel. clothes (an old- fashioned christening gown, wedding gowns, etc.), china, turn-of-the-century newspapers and many other items.

The museum opens on the first weekend in June and remains open until the first week in September. It is open weekdays 4:00 to 8:00 p.m.. weekends and holidays 2:00 to
6:00 p.m.
Admission is $2.00 for adults, FREE for children.
Call Frances Petterson at 306-893-4483 for more info.

St. Walburg & District Historical Museum

The former Roman Catholic Church of the Assumption now houses the St. Walburg & District Historical Museum. It is only one of the sites where Berthold von Imhoff left a sample of his renowned artwork. A 20 minute video on the life of Mr. Imo can be viewed at the museum.

Situated on the south end of Main Street, this museum houses over 2,000 artifacts from the early years to 1945. Take a look into the past at a doctor's office, barber shop, or a photo studio. Imhoff paintings, antique clothing, tools, phonographs, and a rare 1901 map of Canada, when this area was the North West Territories, are only part of the list of items on display. Take a look at yesteryear in St. Walburg.

The museum is open from the last week of June to the end of August.
Hours of operation are from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. on Sundays.
It is wheelchair accessible.
Tour buses please book ahead: 306- 248-3359.

Fort George and Buckingham House Provincial Historic Site

Let modern technology offer you a glimpse into the dreams of Louis the Voyageur, after a hard day of paddling. Listen to the musings of William Tomison, the Chief Factor of Buckingham House, as he writes in his journa1. Begin to know the natives whose lives were so affected by the arrival of the two fur trade giants-the Hudson's Bay Company and the Northwest Company- as they battled for supremacy in the rich fur trade era of the 1700's. In the midst of it all was the country wife, providing a link between two cultures.

Archaeology has revealed the original sites of Fort George and Buckingham House. Both are accessible through a system of pathways and signage. On the north bank of the North Saskatchewan River, the Interpretive Centre commands a breath- taking view of the river and valley.

Hours of operation: May 15 to Labour Day. from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.. seven days a week.
For more information call 780- 724-2611.
Admission: $3.00 for adults. $2.00 for seniors, $1.50 for youth 7-17, free for children under six, $8.00 for a family (two adults and their children aged 7 to 17 years).

Steele Narrows

Steele Narrows Provincial Historic Park is the site of the last battle of the Northwest Rebellion, fought between the NWMP's scouts under the command of Major Sam Steele and the Cree Indians of Big Bear's Band.

The easiest access to Steele Narrows is by heading 11 km west of Loon Lake on Hwy. 699, following the signs. The park has cairns, information panels and maps which give further details on the battle and the personalities involved. This is a well kept site with many picnic tables for your enjoyment.

Fort Pitt

Fort Pitt was founded in 1835 and is considered to be one of the largest and most important forts in the fur trading times. It was the only major post between Carlton House and Fort Edmonton, and it catered to the Wood Cree. Plains Cree and Assiniboines Indians of Big Bear's Band moved to Fort Pitt after the Frog Lake Massacre. A valiant defense was made by inspector Francis Dickens, son of Charles Dickens, and a small force of NWMP but to no avai1. The fort was abandoned and sacked by Indians. It was partially rebuilt the following year and finally closed in 1889.

This historic site is located 22 km west and south of Frenchman Butte off grid road 797, and is open year round.

Frenchman Butte National Historic Site

The site includes the hill where the Indian rifle pits are located. These were holes dug in the ground to defend the territory. Walking trails lead through the woods to the top of the hill where a plaque and cairn commemorate the battle of May 28. 1885. General Strange led the militia from the south side of the coulee.

The site is located 2 km east of Frenchman Butte, then north 3.2 km and east 1.8 km.