Just inside the main entrance of the museum one will encounter the receptionist, and immediately beside, a table holding the museum's guest book. Reading through previous pages, it was evident that, for a small town museum, this site welcomes a lot of guests. It seems that is explained by the fact that the Town of Vulcan has branded itself the Official Star Trek Capital of Canada, an obvious association, given the name of the town.
The Alberta Government Telephone (A.G.T.) Building, which houses a large array of telephone and other communications related artefacts, was built on this site in 1917 and served as the town's telephone exchange until its decommissioning in 1964. When the present Vulcan and District Museum was created in 1998, it leased the A.G.T. building from the town, opening the museum in the building on August 1, 1998.
On November 18, 2014 a three phase construction project was begun. The first phase, restoration of this one-room country school, was quickly followed by phase two, the construction of the foyer which connected the A.G.T. Building with the schoolhouse.
Phase three, the largest of the three, entailed construction of the main museum building which connected all the buildings into a cohesive unit, the opening of which finally occurred in the Spring of 2016. The larger building houses myriad historical items connected to the agricultural, business, home and cultural history of Vulcan and area, as well as the archives of the Vulcan and District Historical Society, which also operates the museum. The
A.G.T. Building was recognized as a Municipal Historic Resource on October 9, 2007.
Around 2014, when the Prospect Slope School, a wood framed, one room schoolhouse, was moved to the site and incorporated into the museum, it was furnished much as it would have been in the 1920s. The Prospect Slope School could itself serve as a museum, recapturing the flavour of any of hundreds of rural schools which dotted the Alberta countryside, some until well into the '50s, and even the '60s.
Prospect Slope School was around 20 miles southeast of Vulcan, several miles southeast of the hamlet of Champion. Many miles from the nearest town, Prospect Slope School stood on the barren, treeless Alberta prairie, probably little used for much of its life. Probably due to a lack of students, the Prospect Slope School appears to have closed earlier than did many of the rural schools of Southern Alberta.
Vulcan & District Museum and Archives
The Vulcan & District Museum and Archives offers visitors the opportunity to step back in time. One building- two opportunities. The museum has something for everyone- Sit in a desk in the former Prospect Slope School. See a telephone switchboard in the AGT communications room. Enjoy the Vulcan Advocate newspaper room and marvel at the medical tools used in the early years. Experience Grandma's kitchen and Grandpa's workshop, musical memories, military accounts including the former military airport west of Vulcan. See the insides of a grain elevator. Watch videos of local residents sharing memories of early events. The archives stores a large collection of documents, photos, history books, and newspapers from the early years when Vulcan was first being settled.
From Travel Alberta