A fairly large museum, the Fort St. John North Peace Museum can keep one occupied for several hours. Wander about the grounds visiting historic buildings moved onsite and a plethora of machinery related to the oil and agricultural industries. One item impossible to miss is a 136 foot tall oil derrick which last worked 143 miles up the Alaska Highway.
Inside the main building are exhibits which deal with all aspects of the Fort St. John area, from the local geology to the local Native peoples to the founding of the first settlement to oil and agriculture. There's essentially no aspect of the area which is overlooked. Also offered by the museum are Educational Programs, Guided Tours, Scavenger Hunts, and Pre and Post Visit Activities.
Fort St. John has a history as long as that of any community in British Columbia. The
Dane-zaa, known by the earliest Europeans in the area as the Beaver people, have called the area home for thousands of years, with archaeological evidence indicating habitation nearby as much as 12,000 years ago. The first non native settlement in the area was
Rocky Mountain House, a fur trading post built by the North West Company in 1794, making it the first white settlement on the mainland of British Columbia. Since 1794 six more trading posts were built in various nearby locations, the most recent in 1925.
Fort St. John North Peace Museum
The Fort St. John North Peace Museum and North Peace Historical Society connect residents and visitors of all ages to the history and communities of the North Peace River area of British Columbia. Our museum is a welcoming centre where the history of Fort St. John and area is kept alive through the preservation, management, and exhibition of our collection as well as our educational programs and events.
Operated by the North Peace Historical Society, the Fort St. John North Peace Museum tells the story of the North Peace through interactive exhibits.
Come explore a tepee, trapper’s cabin, blacksmith’s shop, schoolhouse, dentist office, newspaper office, British Columbia Police Barracks and jail, Alaska Highway exhibit, and more! Sort mail in our post office. Compare your feet to dinosaur footprints. Touch a beaver pelt. Look through a stereoscope. Try on a sugar sack apron. The history of the North Peace is yours to discover.
The museum’s archives preserve photographs, documents, and genealogical resources. We have over 13,000 photographs as well as local history books, newspapers, maps, personal papers, etc. See our archives tab under programs to learn more. To learn about the work of the North Peace Cemetery Seekers or find out where a relative is buried visit
North Peace Cemeteries
The museum gift shop has the best selection of local history books covering the Peace region and the Yukon. Come shop for souvenirs, postcards, mugs, gifts, jewelry, stuffed animals, clothing and more! All proceeds support the museum.
From the Fort St. John North Peace Museum