Explore human and natural history collections at the Kitimat Museum & Archives
Come and visit the Kitimat Museum & Archives collections
The Museum has human history artifact and archival collections and natural history specimens unique to the Kitimat Valley and surrounding area, including the Douglas Channel. See below for an overview of the Museum's collections and view collection highlights at MemoryBC.
Donations are encouraged. If you wish to make a donation, please contact the Executive Director directly at the Museum.
Browse through past exhibits featured at the Kitimat Museum & Archives including the massive Alcan project that was completed in just five years. Look through Kitimat history with these project images.
Online Collections
Browse through past exhibits featured at the Kitimat Museum & Archives including the massive Alcan project that was completed in just five years. Look through Kitimat history with these project images.
Virtual ExhibitsThere is a large 400-specimen fossil collection dating back to the Jurassic Period (136-190 million years) and a collection of geology samples representative of the region’s geology. Some crab and mollusk shells and dried specimens of seaweed and coral are on display – representative of the Douglas Channel environment. The Museum also has collected taxidermy specimens of birds of the region, nests, migratory birds, and raptors. Woodland and estuary mammals of the region are also on display.
The Haisla of the region, explorers, trappers, prospectors, homesteaders, adventurers, and missionaries have all called the Kitimat Valley and Douglas Channel home. Artifacts have been collected that document the the history and culture of the Haisla Nation and the impact of others, drawn to the Kitimat Valley and the Methodist Mission at Kitamaat. On display, a digital copy of the original ban of the potlatch of 1898 (BC Archives) for the Haisla, and artifacts of the Royal Templars of Temperance, Kitamaat (1890s). The collections also feature bentwood boxes and stone tools of the Haisla and early settlement artifacts. The Museum has the original diary of George Anderson and that of his first wife Cora.
Learn about the Haisla Heritage Redesign at the Kitimat Museum & Archives
Kitimat has received much attention over the years for its provincial and national story. The massive Kitimat Project in the early 1950s was completed in just five years – dam, tunnel, powerhouse, the village of Kemano, transmission line, smelter, and the town of Kitimat. This construction event received worldwide attention from the media and thousands took part in the construction. The Museum collection features oral histories, souvenir memorabilia, photographs, published materials, maps and plans, Kitimat furniture (by American designers Ray and Charles Eames and Canadian designer Robin Bush), and Morrison-Knudsen plans.
Visit the Alcan Project History online to see the photos and read more
Memorabilia, photographs, documents, and published materials highlight the town’s early beginnings to the present day. Of particular note, the Museum has the Max Patzelt Photograph Collection with documentary images of the town and Ocelot/Eurocan construction. The Museum also has the Northern Sentinel Photograph Collection, commercial records of Helen’s Cafe (an early-Kitimat restaurant) and the Kitimat Business and Professional Women’s Club records.