Outside, the museum has gathered together a collection of historic buildings, including the 1906 Brisco log schoolhouse and the original Windermere Lake Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) Depot, also built of logs. Further on are several buildings and cabins, to our knowledge all original, from the Windermere Valley area. Outside is also a collection of vintage machinery, mostly from farms around the area.
The main museum building is the Windermere Lake CPR Depot, also the largest building on the property, moved to the museum from down the hill and officially opened June 23, 1979.
Built of logs in 1923, the station served the town until, we believe, the late 1960s, after which time it stood empty until...
It was 1977, we believe, that a coal train passing through Invermere derailed, with at least one coal car striking the station, doing considerable damage. The CPR was not about to rebuild the station, as it had been obsoleted by time & economics so it was given to the Windermere District Historical Society. They society dismantled what was left of the station and reassembled it at the museum, officially reopening it on June 23, 1979.
An interesting and "different" artefact can be found on the deck at the rear of the station; a homemade bathtub used by a prospector many years ago at his cabin in the nearby mountains.
An accompanying heritage marker above the bathtub bears the following text.
MOUNTAIN BATHTUB
THIS BATHTUB WAS CONSTRUCTED BY JOHN BURMAN, A PROSPECTOR ON BOULDER CREEK, NEAR PARADISE MINE, TWENTY-FIVE MILES WEST OF INVERMERE. HE LIVED THERE AROUND 1915.
BURMAN PACKED IN MATERIALS FROM ATHALMER TO HIS CABIN AT 7,500 FT. HE THEN CARRIED HIS BATHWATER ¼ 0F A MILE FROM THE SPRING TO HIS CABIN TO BE HEATED.
THE BATHTUB WAS FOUND NEAR THE SITE OF BURMAN'S OLD CABIN IN 1975 BY IAN WEIR WHILE HE WAS ROAD BUILDING FOR THE PURCELL MINING DEVELOPMENT COMPANY.