Ever wonder what it was like to go back in time and step foot inside an old Canadian Pacific…read moreRailway (CPR) station from the early 1900s? Welcome to the Port Moody Station Museum! The building itself was completed in 1908 and has since been carefully managed to provide guests with an authentic experience of what life was like as a Port Moody pioneer/visitor. Several unique artifacts that have been collected or excavated are found in display cases around the museum providing children and adults alike with a learning opportunity. Outside in the concourse is the eye-catching (and my favourite) landmark: the Venosta - one of the few remaining 1920 CPR sleeping cars. Its restoration and incorporation into our modern society is only a small testimony to the dedication of staff members at the museum to preserve our cultural heritage. (Thank you!) If you're ever interested in learning about how the town of Port Moody came to be and/or the story behind that little train station everyone drives by, pay the Port Moody Station Museum a visit!

Update November, 2020: Museum director Jim Millar has resisted intervention by our MP, a Queen's…read moreCounsel lawyer, and continues to cling tenaciously, wrongly, wrongfully, to our beloved forbear's WWI medals. A recent letter from a curator at the big war museums in Calgary, AB expressed concern at Millar's strangely hostile approach, citing examples of similar disputes, in which, in EVERY case, the family prevailed. If the medals are NOT relinquished to us shortly, the Calgary curator assures us that the medals may be relocated to the Calgary museum appropriate to forbear's regiment. Either way, this awful Port Moody museum will NOT have them! Museums worldwide are daily being compelled by courts to repatriate their disputed plunder, returning it to its rightful owners. This is due in no small measure to attitudes like this museum director's. I would urge the public to question the the legality of every museum's right of possession to its collection. In our case, it would have been reasonable to presume first, that there are almost certainly surviving descendants of WWI soldiers, and second, that those descendants enjoy a prima facie claim and right of first refusal to such mementos as against a museum. There are conflicts in every family. It's wrong for a museum to exploit such conflicts for its own dubious purposes. In this case, the war medals' only real value is as family heirlooms. To knowingly deprive a family of our right to honor a forbear's war time valor should be a criminal offence.

Great place for kids. Plenty of interactive activities for them to learn and explore the workings…read moreof the Fraser River. There are two levels and you can get around by elevator and stairs. There is a place to park the strollers. It is a nice place to spend a couple of hours here with the children. For adults, it is very informative to know more about the Fraser River.

What a great way to celebrate the Fraser River. This discovery centre is full of little activities…read morefor kids of all ages. Entry is by donation and there are two floors to peruse. All stations are based on some part of the river whether it's the wildlife, rock bed or water, it's all covered. You can host birthday parties here which I'd consider for my toddler. Lovely way to spend an hour with the family. My 2.5 year old enjoyed digging in the sand and testing the pH of the water the most. Lovely centre!

Irving House, completed in 1865, is the one oldest homes in the Lower Mainland and it is the oldest…read moreheritage house museum in B.C.! Being a fan of Burnaby Heritage Museum, I never knew about this place until my family told me about it. I came here with my parents, and there were no other visitors other than my family during the entire tour of the house. Tracy, the tour guide, was super friendly and helpful with the tour and I was able to stop and ask any questions during the tour. I loved how Tracy did a vintage vacuum demonstration as I haven't seen anything like it before. I loved the fact that visitors could go upstairs and see the entire house! Many of the items in the home were original from the original owners, though some were purchased or donated from other sources.

Irving House was built in 1865, back when New Westminster was striving to be the capital of British…read moreColumbia. It was lived in by family members up to about 1950, when it was sold to the city of New Westminster, and turned into a historical centre. Thus, if you're a history buff, love antiques (especially Victorian-era pieces), or ever watched the show "America's Castles", you should take a tour of Irving House. The house was built in high style by Captain Irving, a man who made a lot of money in the California, Alaska, and BC Gold Rush, and virtually poured it into the house. The architectural details of the house are interesting and well explained by the costumed guides. Since I was practically the only visitor at the time, I pretty much got my own personal tour. According to them, all the furniture and pieces displayed in the house are authentic to the period - no reproductions (except for some fake food in the kitchen, perhaps). Many belonged to the Irving family and their descendants; others were donated. The house is currently decorated, Victorian-style, for Christmas. Lots of garlands, an amazing Christmas dinner setting, and a beautiful little Christmas tree. Those into old-fashioned decorations should check it out. Legend has it too, that the house is haunted by none other than Captain Irving himself. At the very least, you can see the bed he reportedly died in, and it's one enormous piece of furniture. My guide demurred on confirming the story that an indentation of a body can sometimes be seen in the bedcovers. I saw nothing on my visit, though. In any case, it is New Westminster's oldest surviving home, and thus probably one of the oldest homes in the Vancouver area. It's a wonderful glimpse into what life was like in the early years of British Columbia, if you were high society folk. Admission is by donation, so it's affordable even for writers to visit.

Came by for an event last night and really enjoyed it. The…read morebuilding has a nice airy feel to it and plenty of spaces to find your own. The staff were pleasant and I noticed some board games behind the front desk for visitors to use. I've only been in here a few times but would absolutely return for a future event or with a friend to hang out with a game on a cold evening! Note: parking is challenging/pricy in this area - would recommend transit instead. Right across the street from the Quay which has my favourite fruit/veg shop - would recommend a visit!!

This is a very nice building. Its is newly built. There is a Lego version of New Westminster in…read moreside. Free admission. This place is built for the same purpose as the conventional center downtown Vancouver. There are lots of meeting room. Of course, it is not as big as the one in Vancouver. But it serves its purpose. The gallery is free but closes at 5 pm. So you have to come early. But the plus side is they are open on weekends.

If you like history this is a beautiful place to come and learn about the birth of British Columbia…read moreand the fur trade industry in this region. Besides an interactive museum you can walk to the historuc town full of coffee shops, Bistros, local stores. All buzzing with people and live in this quaint place. If it is a Saturday bistros usualy have waiting seat times. Everything is let friendly since there are tables outside every restaurant. For 4 hours of free parking you need to register for free your car at the Visitor Center. There are lots of parking and everything is comfortably walkable.

Decent historical site. Grounds well maintained. Engaged interpreters. Good interpretative…read morecontent. Plenty of parking. Not a ton to see but not a bad quick stop if in area.

A free museum in the Anvil Centre, if you're already here to see the New Media Gallery or the…read moreCanadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame, check it out. The exhibits include memorabilia, artifacts, newspaper reprints and even a 1926 Ford Model T and a New Westminster Police motorcycle. Interesting history of a part of the world that is new to me so it was interesting to learn a microcosm of Canadian history here as New Westminster grew from before its earliest settlement to the city it is today. Of course, no Canadian museum is complete without an acknowledgement of the impact of colonialism and New Westminster's exhibits include statements and context that recognize it. There is a display of First Peoples artifacts and history. [Review 20889 overall - 65 in British Columbia - 1873 of 2023.]

I've been to the New Westminster Museum and Archives a couple of times -- I only found out about it…read morewhen I went to New Media Gallery last year. It's located in the Anvil Centre, right beside the gallery, and like the gallery, it's free. The museum displays artifacts pertaining to the history of New Westminster, and currently, there is a neat exhibit of the city of New Westminster made entirely out of Lego. The exhibit is called "People Gotta Move", focusing on transportation, complete with a Lego skytrain. Be sure to catch the exhibit before it ends on November 16, 2018. [Yelp collections: Museums and Art Galleries; Cheap Thrills; Being a tourist in my own city]

The Samson V is an old steam-powered paddlewheeler that was retired from service as a working…read morevessel on the Fraser and turned into a small museum. She is permanently docked near the Paddlewheeler Pub on the New West Boardwalk and sporadically opened for visitors to come aboard and have a look (the opening hours are more regular in the summertime). It's a little bit like the St. Roch in the Vancouver Maritime Museum, only smaller and still in the waters where she worked - maintaining all those things that need cleaning and fixing along a busy working waterway like the Fraser River. Today, though it hasn't moved in many years, the Samson V still has a boaty aroma of fuel oil and salt, reminding me of when I got to go visit Grandpa's fishing boat as a child. You can explore the three levels pretty much at leisure - engine room, quarters (say hi to the Captain), galley, mess hall, wheelhouse, decks, and of course, the bright red paddlewheel. The ship's historian and volunteers are on hand and very friendly and knowledgeable if you have questions about the Samson V (or Samsons I - IV for that matter), which is good because the displays are a bit text-heavy for today's attention-span deprived visitors, myself included. And it's free - or by donation. What have you got to lose?