August Happenings at the Rossland Museum

The Museum is open from 10 am to 6 pm seven days a week.

Guided tours of the outdoor exhibits are available at 11 am, 1 pm, and 3 pm - included in admission!

Upcoming Events

Rossland Golden City Days

September 6th-7th

We’re thrilled to be taking part in another Rossland Golden City Days weekend of festivities! Downtown, look for our float in the parade and check out our booth at the Fall Fair!

Here at the museum, we'll join the celebrations with special open-by-donation days from 10 am - 6 pm Saturday and Sunday, featuring special crafts, games, scavenger hunts, and gold panning. We'll have guided outdoor tours at 11 am, 1 pm, and 3 pm so you can learn all about our town's golden past... and the not-so-shiny bits, too!

September 13th-14th

Join us on the Museum lawn for live music and lots of fun for the whole family at our annual Arts & Culture Festival, September 13th and 14th from 12 to 4 pm all weekend. In partnership with the Rossland Incredible Market, we'll be featuring Kootenay artisans, vendors, and food trucks! Plus, a bouncy castle, lawn games, scavenger hunt, and crafts make this the perfect event to enjoy on a September afternoon.

Trail Pride Parade & Market

Saturday, August 23rd

Look out for our booth at the Trail Pride Market! We’ll be there from 10 am to 2 pm with our exhibit on Pride in the West Kootenays. Come say hello and participate in our interactive Pride exhibit by leaving a note for next year’s market attendees!

We’re hiring!

We’re looking for candidates for three paid internship opportunities for recent graduates looking to get into the museum/heritage sector!

Check out our website for full job posters and information about how to apply.

Exhibit Updates

New Additions to the Upper Level Exhibits!

With financial support from the LeRoi Community Foundation and TECK Trail Operations, we’ve been making some updates to improve visitor experiences in our Upper Level displays.

New Outreach Exhibit: Making a Splash: Construction of the Rossland Swimming Pool

We have a new outreach exhibit at Out of the Cellar! Stop by for more snippets and stories of the Rossland Swimming Pool - or check out our website for even more details!

Webpage Updates

We’ve done some further digging on the history of the Dewdney Trail! The Dewdney Trail was a 720-kilometre-long trail that spanned the majority of BC, reaching from Hope on the Coast to Wild Horse Creek in the East Kootenays. Read the whole story on our website.

Volunteer Call-Out

We have many projects on the go, so we can always use volunteer support! Here are some current projects:

Transcribe oral history interviews — our ongoing Rossland Memories project has a back-log of interviews to be added to our website. Sign up to listen to past interviews and check that our transcription software is picking up on all those Rossland names!
Help with landscaping/yard work — we’re working to improve the pathways to the Upper Level of the property! Now we need help with moving rocks, collecting bits of broken glass/ceramics, and weeding the site.
Build a Rube Goldberg interactive — we’ve been dreaming of a cause-and-effect machine (think of the game Mousetrap!) for our new programming space. Can you design and build one?
Dismantle an exhibit case — we’re moving around exhibits to prepare for our Renewal Project, and some cases have got to go! Help us dismantle them.

Check out our website for other volunteer opportunities, or get in touch with Fiona at admin@rosslandmuseum.ca for more information about any of these projects!

2006.15.1 - Orwell Hotel Legal Seal

The Orwell Hotel was originally built as the Bellevue Hotel by W.H. Bell in 1897
The hotel boasted a large bar room, parlour, dining room, and 27 guest rooms
Name changed to the Flying Steamshovel in 1992
The Orwell/Bellevue is the only hotel in Rossland that started as a hotel in the 1890s and continues to run as a hotel today

2009.9.1 - White Wolf Inn T-shirt

The Central Hotel was built by August Jackman and J.E. Almstrong on the corner of Spokane Street and Le Roi Avenue in 1895
Sam and Minnie Irvin bought the hotel in 1915 and operated it for over 30 years as the Irvin Hotel
It was renamed the White Wolf Inn in the 1950s
The hotel was lost to a fire in 1975

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Museum Shop Highlights

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Discover Climate Hero – A Virtual Escape Room by Pacific Museum of the Earth

Enter a future Earth and journey through climate challenges in this immersive online game. Combining an escape‑room format with AI-powered interactions, Climate Hero invites students and families to explore climate science, discuss real‑world solutions, and commit to action in a fun, engaging way.

Why it’s awesome:

Developed by UBC’s Pacific Museum of the Earth in partnership with Steamlabs.
Ideal for ages 10+, educators, and families—play anytime, anywhere.
Includes six challenging levels from personal habits to policy-making.

How to access it:
Visit climatehero.ca to play immediately for free—perfect for virtual learning, at-home engagement, or classroom fun.

Play the Game

New Permanent Exhibit: Sinixt Homeland

On June 21st, National Indigenous Peoples Day, we were honoured to formally open a new permanent exhibit: snʕay̓ckstx tmxʷúlaʔxʷ or Sinixt Homeland, now on display in the Museum’s Entrance Gallery.

Rehousing Our Glass Plate Negatives

Thanks to support from the LeRoi Community Foundation, we have recently been able to rehouse our collection of glass plate negatives and slides! Read about the twists and turns of this project.