Established in 1963, the Jasper Historical Society held a mortgage burning in 1986, just a year after the present building was purchased.
Prior to the present building, which the Jasper Yellowhead Historical Society shares with the Jasper Yellowhead Museum and Archives, the society's office was in the basement of the library. While established in 1963, it wasn't until 1977 that the society was registered as a non-profit, charitable organization.
The society's primary missions are the operation of the museum and the caretaking of the archives of the Town of Jasper, which are held in the building. The archives are searchable through an
online database or in person at the museum.
Located in the scenic Rocky Mountain town of Jasper, Alberta, the Jasper Yellowhead Museum & Archives is dedicated to collect, preserve and make available for research and exhibition documents and artefacts which illustrate the human history of Jasper National Park and the Yellowhead Corridor.
The Archives’ holdings include: a library of historic books, periodicals and pamphlets pertaining to the human and natural history of the region and more than 20 metres of manuscripts, personal and business papers, diaries and memoirs. The photographic holdings include thousands of items in the form of negatives, prints, albums and transparencies.
From the JYHS
JYHS - HISTORICAL
BACKGROUND
Jasper Historical Society held its first general meeting in January, 1963. Its early projects included working with Jasper National Park to install a commemorative plaque at Athabasca Pass and to protect heritage items at the Palisades Ranch and Pocahontas cemetery. The society, renamed the Jasper-Yellowhead Historical Society (JYHS), established its office and archives in the basement of the Jasper Library. In 1977, JYHS registered as a non-profit, charitable organization:
- To encourage the study of the history of Alberta and Canada, particularly as it pertains to Jasper and vicinity
- To save from oblivion the memories…to obtain and preserve narratives…of the original inhabitants of the area, including missionaries, fur traders, explorers and settlers
- To collect all data possible on the early history of Jasper town site and its early citizens
- To locate, preserve and mark the local points of historical interest and
- To establish and operate a museum
The JYHS started working toward a museum in 1978. In 1985, they agreed to purchase a partially complete building on Pyramid Lake Road. In 1990 the lower floor of this structure was complete and the society’s office and archives moved in. In 1992 the main floor office area, retail outlet and Temporary Gallery were opened and the Permanent Exhibit Gallery, to focus on Jasper’s social and human history entered the planning stage. In 1996 a Federal-Provincial Infrastructure grant was obtained, and combined with over $80,000 in JYHS fundraising, development of the Permanent Historical Gallery began.
From the Jasper Yellowhead Museum