 | British Columbia | 
| |||||
| Northern BC | |||||||
| Home | Previous | Next | Prints | Books | Posters | ||
Virtual Guidebook to Northern British Columbia
Fort Nelson
on the Alaska Highway British Columbia
The town of Fort Nelson is purely utilitarian, serving the region's oil and gas developments and Alaska Highway travelers.
I arrived in Fort Nelson after a long drive in heavy rain along the first (and least interesting) stretch of the Alaska Highway. Luckily I arrived early enough to drop by the Fort Nelson Heritage Museum - one of my favorite small museums. It is packed with a jumble of miscellaneous "old stuff" of every conceivable type, sort of a huge community attic. There is little interpretation but most of the items are self-explanatory (though I would like to know more about that swimsuit). In addition to the main building, there is an excellent collection of antique cars and trucks (the work of Mr. Marl Brown), a trapper's cabin, the residence of a Hudson Bay Company factor, and lots of heavy equipment outside.
 | A typical stretch of the Alaska Highway north of Fort Nelson (August 21, 2010) | |
 | The Fort Nelson Heritage Museum, absolutely crammed with interesting old stuff (August 20, 2010) | |
 | An albino moose is the largest of the stuffed animals in the Fort Nelson Heritage Museum (August 20, 2010) | |
 | More stuffed animals in the Fort Nelson museum (August 20, 2010) | |
 | What appears to be a moosehide swimsuit, next to a general store in the Fort Nelson Heritage Museum (August 20, 2010) | |
 | Inside a trapper's cabin at the Fort Nelson Heritage Museum (August 20, 2010) | |
 | A display of antique cars and trucks (assembled by Marl Brown) at the Fort Nelson Museum (August 20, 2010) | |
 | Inside the Hudson Bay factor's house at the Fort Nelson Heritage Museum (August 20, 2010) | |
 | Outside exhibits featuring Alaska Highway and oil drilling equipment, at the Fort Nelson Museum (August 20, 2010) | |