Museum and Gift Shop Hours
Summer Hours: May 21 to the end of September
open daily 9:30am-5:30pm
Located at: 478 1st Street
(corner of Highway 16 and Pine Street)
RV parking
The Vanderhoof Community Museum is situated on an historic site and the museum grounds showcase beautifully restored 1900s period buildings, train cars, a restaurant, gift shop, an expanding heritage park, playground, and walking trails.
The site offers something for everyone in your family. Backed by natural forests and Stoney Creek, the VCM is a must stop in Vanderhoof. Showcasing a diversity of displays, you will learn a lot about Vanderhoof's birth and our local history, First Nations culture in the area, as well as cultural diversity in the community. Home to the annual Canada Day celebrations, Vanderhoof is proud to present its history at the Vanderhoof Community Museum.
Vanderhoof, located on the banks of the Nechako River, was founded in the early 1900s by an American publicist looking for a place to build a retreat for artists and writers. His name was Herbert Vanderhoof. He had been hired by the Grand Trunk Pacific Development Company to lure settlers to the region to farm the vast tracts of cheap land for sale. Although the retreat was never built and the writers never came, prospective ranchers came in droves.
Vanderhoof quickly became a centre for ranching and logging and is, in fact, the Geographical Centre of British Columbia! Both ranching and logging industries have helped to open up the surrounding wilderness for anglers, canoeists, cross-country skiers and wildlife photographers.
There are many attractions in this area to keep the locals and tourists occupied. For a list of other interesting sites to take in while you visit this area please browse the Vanderhoof Visitor Centre.