The Bowen Museum & Archives (9) was built during 1996-7. It features old Higgins Cabin and other displays from days gone by. Based on 1937 map.
The Bowen Island Museum & Archives
In 1967 the Bowen Island Museum & Archives began collecting material about the history of the “Happy Isle”. The Museum & Archives consists of two buildings in a park-like setting containing museum displays and an extensive museum and archival collection which exhibit the unique history of Bowen Island.
The Archives acquires, stores and preserves the memory of Bowen’s community. The records of the island’s pioneers, organizations, businesses, writers and artists include photographs, letters, minutes and memoranda, maps and architectural plans, audio and video as well as some small art works. They are all available for your research.
Features:
- The Higgins Cabin – restored two room logger’s cabin
- The Photograph Collection – digital and print
- The Biographical Database
- The Maps Database
- The Artifact Database
- The Family and Organizational Fonds
- The Bowen Island Books
Above: the Higgins Cabin before the renovation. It’s now as good as new.
The Higgins Cabin
Higgins cabin is a permanent two-room display. Looking into the bedroom, visitors can see how Bert Higgins might have lived as a logger in 1948. The refrigerator and cook stove are both powered by kerosene, as was common before electricity came into general use on Bowen.
In the kitchen, you can see the collection of logger’s tools commonly used on Bowen Island, from an early wood-framed bow saw to a 1950s chainsaw.
Also on display is the history of Higgins Cabin itself, from the land that was once owned by Union Estates to its development by Bert Higgins and the eventual renovation and restoration by the Bowen Island Historians.
New Weekly Tours
Starting July 1, 2017, join us every weekend until the end of summer for tours of both our permanent and summer exhibitions. Tours will run Saturday and Sunday from 1:00PM – 2:00PM and will last 30 minutes. They operate on a walk-in basis for parties of 6 people or less, so there is no need to book reservations in advance. If you are a larger party, please contact the museum for more information. Hope to see you there!
On the website – bowenislandmuseum.ca
The extensive museum website is well worth a visit as well. It features a large searchable database of historic photos, articles, audio and beautiful renderings of old photos by Bowen artist Ron Woodall.
