Vancouver Maritime Museum

by ssquires · August 5, 2016

The Vancouver Maritime Museum

Since 1959, the Vancouver Maritime Museum Society has worked to preserve and tell the maritime history of the pacific northwest and arctic.

The museum opened in 1959 as a provincial Centennial project. In 1972, the Vancouver Museums and Planetarium Association assumed management of the museum on behalf of the City of Vancouver. In 1974, a separate Vancouver Maritime Museum Society was formed. In 1987, the VMPA split into three institutions, with the society board assuming management on behalf of the City. Our staff and Board of Trustees work to improve the museum, create a bright future, and strengthen the connection of our maritime history to the world today.

The Vancouver Maritime Museum is located within Vanier Park just west of False Creek on the Vancouver waterfront. The main exhibit is the St. Roch, an historic arctic exploration vessel used by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The museum also has extensive galleries of model ships, including a particularly fine bone model of the French warship Vengeur du Peuple which was built around 1800 by French prisoners of war, a Children’s Maritime Discovery Centre, a recreation of the fo’c’sle (forecastle) of Vancouver’s ship Discovery, an extensive collection of maritime art, and a large library and archives.

Outdoor displays include the NASA undersea research vessel Ben Franklin and the boiler of the Beaver – the first steamship in the Pacific Northwest; the museum also has a small heritage harbour. There is a workshop where visitors can watch craftsmen build models. Of particular significance is the extensive Chung collection of material relating to Canadian Pacific Steamships and original hand drawn charts from Captain Cook’s exploration of the Pacific.

Getting to Vancouver Maritime Museum:

Vancouver Maritime Museum Photos