This Collection consists of photographs documenting early development of the Central Interior including such subjects as: homesteading, railway construction, packing & freighting, modes and routes of transportation, schools, mercantile development, leisurely activities, sports, natural resource development and exploitation, political movements, town-site development and policing. This collection also provides a look at history of the Taylor-Baxter Family - a long time pioneering family of this region, including: A.K. & Lillian Bourchier; Hugh & Hermina "Minnie" (nee Wessel) Taylor and family; Herbert & Sarah (nee Wessel) Glassey; and Bob & Violet (nee Taylor) Baxter and family.
The Prince George Railway & Forestry Museum Society Collection consists primarily of textual, photographic, and cartographic records related to the regional developments of the railway industry in Northern BC. A predominant portion of the collection is made up of material from the Canadian National Railway; other railways represented include the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, the British Columbia Railway (BC Rail), the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, the Grand Trunk Railway, the Intercolonial Railway, and the Okanagan Express. Significant geographical areas covered include Prince George, the Peace River Region, Terrace, Bulkley Valley, Hazelton and Prince Rupert.
The forestry industry is represented in the collection with operational and financial records from Fyfe Lake Sawmill Ltd., which operated southwest of Prince George in the 1950s.
The collection has been organized into series according to creator, each of which also has been arranged to subseries, file and item level, where applicable. This collection consists of eight series, as follows:
1) Canadian National Railway
2) Grand Trunk Railway
3) Pacific Great Eastern Railway
4) British Columbia Railway (BC Rail)
5) Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR)
6) Intercolonial Railway
7) Fyfe Lake Sawmill ltd.
8) PGRFM
9) Photographs
A collection of postcard photographs of Port Essington BC, Port Simpson BC, Atlin, Quesnel, McBride, Hagwilget Village, Giscome, Likely, Kitwanga, Smithers, Prince Rupert BC, Prince (Fort) George BC Images depict street scenes, water scenes, community events, businesses, buildings, and aerials of the towns. Collection also depicts a number of Northern BC paddle wheelers.
Collection consists of a travel scrapbook created by Jill Singleton documenting a trip to Alaska, Yukon, Haida Gwaii, and northern BC. Includes photographs, ephemera, handwritten notes, pamphlets, issues of local newspapers, and maps.
The Fred Jeffery Collection consists of three photograph albums comprising a total of 303 b&w photographs all dating from ca.1924-1933. The subject matter of these images consist primarily of the fishing industry, river & landscapes, salmon cannery images (housing, people, workers, machinery, boats) on the Nass River and North Pacific Coast. Notable are the photographs depicting indigenous (Nisga'a) people and places and Chinese and Japanese cannery workers. Identified canneries featured in these photographs include: Mill Bay Cannery, Namu Cannery, Klemtu Cannery, Shushartie Bay Cannery, Balmoral Cannery, North Pacific Cannery, Nass Harbour Cannery, Port Essington Cannery, Kitwanga Cannery, Port Nelson Cannery, Alert Bay Cannery, Dominion Cannery and ABC Co. Cannery. Photographs also include images of the Canadian Pacific Railway in both Vancouver and Sicamous, BC., as well as, images of the Legislative Assembly buildings in Victoria, the 1924 Special Service Squadron ships in Vancouver, early construction of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and town overviews of Yokohama, Japan (pre WWII).
Jeffery, Fred