Sandon Museum

Location

The Sandon Museum is 50 short kilometers from Kaslo, on Highway 31, which follows a river, so it is a twisting and winding road.  We spent a few hours here and it was well worth the detour.  The roads and access is good and well marked. 

Sandon found out the hard way that they could not control nature

Interactive Museum

Among the remaining buildings which house a general store, a museum and a power generating station, you will find old buses.  And, oh, boy they do bring back memories for everyone.  Children enjoy them because they can pretend to be the driver and take passengers off to exotic and fun places, and of course adults remember their time on the old buses from their hometowns. 

The buildings are old, and in the windows you will see old canning jars which bring back memories for most of us, and for those who do not remember, it illustrates old times.  Peeling paint on the buildings help too. 

Some buildings are being restored
Electricity being made to this day in Sandon

History

Believe it or not, but Sandon was an incorporated city.  It grew so fast to accommodate its citizens who moved in to get rich on the surrounding mines.  The men arrived so fast to work the mines, and brothels sprang up just as quickly to provide companionship to the working men. 

Old home in Sandon
All the preserves that were needed to get through the long snowy winters
Can you imagine driving ?

Fun for the Family

The city had a number of tragedies and rebuilds which makes for interesting reading.  You really get a chance to feel what it was like to live in this city back in the day, and so it is a highly recommended destination for children and adults alike. 

Some old wooden box cars patiently waiting
Plenty of brothels and plenty of churches were once located in the town of Sandon

Sad Part about Canada’s history

A sad part of Canadian history was the internment period of Japanese-Canadians after the attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941.  Canada rounded up all Japanese-Canadians and many were interned at Sandon because many of the buildings were abandoned.  Sandon was also one of the first camps to close because of the cold and snowy winters, but those internees were relocated to New Denver further down the mountain.  All were released at the end of the war, and this remains a very sad part of Canada’s history.

More information can be found at the Sandon Historical Society in New Denver, BC, or online at www.sandonmuseum.ca

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