Around the time the we moved from Westbank the museum moved from its long time location in a little building west of the Westbank townsite into this much more spacious location. Housing a plethora of antiquities and memorabilia, this is a really good museum for a relatively small community. Possibly I shouldn't say that, as the West Kelowna area comprises a large, semi rural area of about 40,000 residents.
In the museum are many artefacts portraying day to day life as it would have been in the days of the area's settlers in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Further displays indicate advancements in technology through the years which made life a little easier as time marched inexorably on.
One of the cooler items in the collection is a
wooden washer, built in 1926 by the
Boss Washing Machine Company of Cincinnati, Ohio and powered by a stationary gasoline engine. It is the only wooden washer we have encountered in our travels. Another is a complete miniature sawmill, the
Only Fully Operational Miniature Sawmill in Canada. About sixteen feet long, the sawmill required 25,000 man hours to construct and takes miniature logs in one end and spits out finished lumber at the other end (so to speak).
By far, these are not the only items of interest here - check out the photos below, an eclectic selection of the museum's holdings.
A brilliant example of multipurposing is the fact that the Westbank Visitors' Centre is also in the museum, sort of like one stop shopping for knowledge of both the past and the present of Westbank.
HISTORY OF THE MUSEUM
The Westbank Museum was established in 1978 to provide a repository for artefacts of the early days of the Westbank area, to generate community programs of historic and cultural worth and to preserve Westbank heritage. The museum has grown since inception and now houses over 6500 artefacts in its collection. It also has an impressive collection of archival documents and photographs.
Located at 2376 Dobbin Road, on the west side of beautiful Okanagan Lake, the Westbank Museum invites its visitors, as well as its community, to share in the goal of preserving the physical history of Westbank’s achievements.
Every year the museum’s collection grows, as well as our involvement in the community. We offer educational opportunities along with research assistance to those who are interested.
The Westbank Museum has recently moved to a new location. During the summer of 2011, we transformed the old RCMP building into our beautiful new museum. We welcome visitors to come and see how we have evolved and share in our cultural history.
From the Westbank Museum
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