The Shawnigan Lake Volunteer Fire Department – The Early Days
Although the tales of the old days are colourful, probably no one would like to accept all the primitive facilities that they took for...
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NP Dougan
Nov 12, 20237 min
Fabled Lost Silver Mine on the Banks of the Koksilah
From the Cowichan Leader, Duncan, December 1, 1955. p. 4. By N.P. Dougan From Shawnigan Lake Village via Renfrew Road, it is eight miles...
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Shawnigan Lake Museum
Nov 5, 20233 min
The Ambassador of Shawnigan Lake
1950 article from unknown local newspaper) The Shawnigan Lake district of southern Vancouver Island is famous for its beauty and Bobby...
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Lori Treloar
Nov 3, 20232 min
Malahat Drive
by Lori Treloar Prior to the Malahat highway there were two land routes to the Cowichan Valley. The first, known as the Goldstream Trail,...
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Lori Treloar
Oct 27, 20232 min
A Library at Shawnigan Lake
by Lori Treloar Early records indicate that the Women’s Institute ran a library at Shawnigan Lake for a short time in 1919 but there is...
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Lori Treloar
Oct 23, 20232 min
Community
The non-mill residents worked as diligently as their mill partners to provide the organization necessary for a strong community. Almost...
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Lori Treloar
Oct 19, 20232 min
A Goldrush of Our Very Own
by Lori Treloar Many of the people who came to British Columbia, late in the 19th century, did so because they thought that they could...
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Brownie Gibson
Oct 13, 20232 min
1892 - Settling on Shawnigan Lake
“My father, Richard Beauchamp Halhed, had lived for some years in New Zealand, where my two brothers and I were born. He then returned...
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Lori Treloar
Oct 10, 20232 min
William Losee
by Lori Treloar Have you ever wondered about the street names in our community? Losee Road is a short road that runs south off Baldy...
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Shawnigan Lake Museum
Oct 5, 202310 min
Early Pioneers
(As told by George V Copley) December 31, 1968) A short recital (to about the year 1900) of some of the early pioneers of Mill Bay,...
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Daniel Marshall
Sep 15, 20234 min
The Mysterious Origin of the name Shawnigan
By Daniel Marshall Some years ago, an out-of-town friend was surprised see that there existed a "Shawnigan Lake." 'What coincidence,"...
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Lori Treloar
Sep 13, 20231 min
Why is the expansion important?
The Shawnigan Lake Historical Society moved into the redundant Shawnigan Fire Hall, in 1983, and set up the permanent home for the...
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Kendalle Freeman
Sep 13, 20233 min
Shawnigan Lake Lumber Company
Kendalle Freeman, Summer Student – Shawnigan Lake Museum The Shawnigan Lake Lumber Company began a simple start in the late 1880’s.This...
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Lori Treloar
Sep 9, 20233 min
What does Nellie Melba, the Australian singing sensation, have to do with Shawnigan Lake?
Melba Toast have in common? Both were named after world renowned Australian singer Nellie Melba. And, you ask, what could that possibly...
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Lori Treloar
Sep 8, 20231 min
Le Camp Français at Shawnigan
For a number of years, in the 1930's, the former Strathcona Hotel in Shawnigan Lake was the venue for Le Camp Français. The 1939...
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Lori Treloar
Sep 8, 20231 min
E&N commuter train to Shawnigan - 119 years ago
Early in the 20th century, the E&N Railway saw the benefits of establishing a commuter train to Shawnigan Lake and, in 1903, launched a...
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Lori Treloar
Aug 18, 20232 min
Abandoned, Then Embraced - The Kinsol Trestle
This project, co-authored by Lori Treloar, Shawnigan Lake Museum Executive Director & Kathryn Gagnon, Cowichan Valley Museum Curator,...
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Lori Treloar
Aug 18, 20231 min
The Last Spike: Sir John A Macdonald Visits Shawnigan Lake
BC threatened to secede from Canada unless a railway was built on Vancouver Island. In 1883, the British Columbia Government appealed to...
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Lori Treloar
Aug 18, 20232 min
E.J. Hughes: The World Famous Painter from Shawnigan Lake
E.J. Hughes was born February 17, 1913 in North Vancouver but spent the first nine years of his childhood in Nanaimo. For over 70 years...
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Lori Treloar
Aug 17, 20231 min
Ground Breaking Ceremony Success
Nearly 100 residents and community officials joined us for a ground breaking ceremony in June to celebrate the beginning of construction...
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