Permanent Exhibits

The Museum sits on the traditional territories of the Laichwiltach First Nation. Within the collection area represented by the Museum are over 30 First Nations, including three separate language and cultural groups, the Kwakwaka’wakw, Nuu-Chah-Nulth and Coast Salish. This gallery strives to illustrate the longstanding history of the first peoples ...

The Transitions Gallery explores some of the difficult parts of our past – a past that includes devastating population loss, Indian Residential Schools and the marginalization of native peoples. It is a past that is still very much with us.

Since the 1880s, logging has played an important role in the development of this region. The area north of Powell River, stretching up to Drury Inlet known by loggers as the “Jungles” is a complex maze of islands, inlets and channels. Don’t miss the outside logging exhibits – the Hayes-Anderson ...

A Campbell River landmark during the town’s early years, the Willows Hotel served both an international sportsfishing clientele and the rough and ready loggers from isolated camps. This permanent exhibit shows the Willows’ façade and entrance through which visitors step into the hotel lobby as it would have appeared c. ...

The floathouse represents a lifestyle that evolved on the British Columbia coast a hundred years ago. It was an answer to economic necessity and the rugged terrain that defied road construction. Floathouses provided a portable home base that could be moved from one working location to another. On a coast ...

Adjacent to the Willows Hotel, a dockside area reflects the sportsfishing activity which made Campbell River famous, including specially made rowboats for Tyee fishing, boatbuilding tools and an array of fishing tackle. 

Fishing has provided sustenance to the peoples of coastal British Columbia throughout the ages. With the arrival of Europeans in the 19th century the harvesting of fish, particularly salmon, became an industry as well as a food source. To learn about another type of commercial fishing, check out the cod ...