Skip to content

All-aboard the history express

Take a tour though history at the Bonnyville Museum. Two new exhibits at the local museum put the focus on the local impact of the Canadian National Railway (CNR) and Alberta’s early settlers.
33.comm.museumexhibit
Bonnyville Museum technician Mathew Pitt showing some of the photos featured in the Mountain Man exhibit currently on display.

Take a tour though history at the Bonnyville Museum.


Two new exhibits at the local museum put the focus on the local impact of the Canadian National Railway (CNR) and Alberta’s early settlers.


The railroad exhibit sheds some light on the history of Bonnyville’s involvement with the railroad, and how the creation of the CNR contributed to the town’s growth.


“The Bonnyville railroad was introduced in the late 1920s,” explained museum technician Mathew Pitt. “It was a big boom through the city, because it introduced a new travel route for a lot of goods and services. It enabled a lot of small businesses and other people to succeed in Bonnyville.”


Pitt added, “The railroad is really important to Bonnyville, and we think it’s a really good milestone in Bonnyville’s history that’s often overlooked. In the museum, we don’t have too many (artifacts) on display for the railroad and we thought it would be a natural fit.”


Pitt noted that the history of Bonnyville’s railway is a key point in the town’s development. It may be overlooked by residents because it was taken out.


While some of the pieces were easy to associate with the railroad development, Pitt said there were other aspects that needed to be researched extensively before being included in the display.


Some artifacts included in the exhibit are railroad spikes from a local railway track and tools used by workers during the construction of the railroad in other parts of Canada.


The museum had an extensive collection of pieces in their archives related to the railway. They’ve spent the last couple of months putting it all together.


“We decided it would be a good idea to go through our inventory and display all of these artifacts to make a railroad exhibit,” Pitt said.


The items will be on display at the museum until the end of the summer. The museum is hoping it will give residents a glimpse into how the town used to be.


“If you’re interested in Bonnyville history, more specifically the Bonnyville railroad, it will give you a pretty in-depth picture of what it was like,” Pitt detailed.


Along with the new railway display, the travel exhibit called Mountain Man is on loan from the Art Gallery of Alberta. It features panoramic photos of rural Alberta taken by Frederick Herbert.


“It’s a collection of panoramic shots taken in the early 1900s,” Pitt explained. “(Herbert) immigrated from England to Alberta in the Rocky Mountains, and he had access to high technology cameras that allowed him to take panoramic photos.”


Herbert became a guide for travellers when they visited Alberta and established a homestead near the Kootenaie Lakes.


“It’s a really interesting look into life back then,” said Pitt.


The display offers museum-goers a look into the life a pioneer, and into the roots of Alberta.


“It’s a good take on how Canada was formed by a lot of the immigration, and how the Albertan work culture was created,” Pitt explained.


Anyone looking for more information on the exhibits can visit bonnyvillemuseum.ca.

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks