JOSEPH CHRISTIEN HOME
Joseph Christien was an early pioneer settler in the Benvoulin area from 1861 to 1890.
This dovetailed log home was built by David McDougall in 1890 in the Ellison district. Joseph bought the home and ranch from McDougall, and lived in it until his death in May 1916, aged 86.
This house was moved to the Mission site in 1970 from the Ellison area.
Dorothea M. Thomson a school teacher in the Ellison area taught school in one of the upper bedrooms. She also rented one of the upper bedrooms while she taught in Ellison.
From the Sign at the Building
Immaculate Conception Mission
Founded in 1859 by Father Charles Marie Pandosy, an Oblate Missiomary, to serve the Native Okanagan People, this was the first Roman Catholic Mission in the interior of British Columbia.
Within the Okanagan Valley the mission was the first permanent non-native settlement, site of the first school and place where the first fruit and vine crops were grown.
Restored in 1958. Designated a Provincial Heritage Site in 1983. Operated by the Okanagan Historical Society.
From the Sign at the entrance to the mission
