Transcona Museum is a museum in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

, that's mission is to preserve and promote the community spirit of Transcona, through sharing our history and stories for the benefit of all. The museum was founded in 1967 as Transcona's Centennial Project celebrating the 100th anniversary of the

Confederation of Canada Canadian Confederation () was the process by which three British North American provinces—the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick—were united into one federation, called the Dominion of Canada, on July 1, 1867. This process ...

and officially opened on October 15, 1968. It was originally located in the basement of the Transcona Public Library. Today, the museum is located in one of two municipally designated heritage building in Transcona. This historic building was originally constructed by the

Bank of Toronto The Bank of Toronto was a Canadian bank that was founded in 1855 by a group of grain dealers and flour millers. On February 1, 1955, it merged with the Dominion Bank to form the Toronto-Dominion Bank. Its first president was James Grant Chewett, ...

in 1925 and later served as the Transcona Municipal Office. This building is owned and operated by the City of Winnipeg. Over the years, the TM has acquired an extensive collection of artifacts, photographs and documentary records that together tell the story of Transcona's community history. These collections include everything from railway artifacts, items from early Transcona businesses, historic clothing and household objects, to special natural and cultural history collections. The Museum is affiliated with the CMA,

CHIN The chin is the forward pointed part of the anterior mandible (List_of_human_anatomical_regions#Regions, mental region) below the lower lip. A fully developed human skull has a chin of between 0.7 cm and 1.1 cm. Evolution The presence of a we ...

, and

Virtual Museum of Canada Digital Museums Canada (DMC; , ''MNC'') is a funding program in Canada "dedicated to online projects by the museum and heritage community," helping organizations to build digital capacity. Administered by the Canadian Museum of History (CMH) wi ...

. In the early 2000s, Transcona Museum planned for expansion.

Collections

The Transcona Museum is home to an extensive collection of roughly 4,000 community based artifacts, many of which were used by people in Transcona. The diverse nature of the holdings are composed of material culture artifacts which depict the human history of the area. The collection holdings include household artifacts and domestic tools, decorative art objects, personal care artifacts, mechanical tools and equipment, technological office equipment, farming implements and equipment, transportation artifacts, leisure artifacts, and a wide range of military objects related to the Boer War, First World War, and Second World War. The Transcona Museum preserves a collection of over 800 clothing and textiles articles from Transcona residents.

The Cecil Patterson Archaeology Collection

The Cecil Patterson Archaeology Collection contains roughly 3,500 artifacts from over 80 archaeological sites across Manitoba. The earliest pieces in the collection were made over 10,000 years ago. The collection is composed of archaeological objects from many of Manitoba's First Nations cultures, including the

Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...

Anishinaabe The Anishinaabe (alternatively spelled Anishinabe, Anicinape, Nishnaabe, Neshnabé, Anishinaabeg, Anishinabek, Aanishnaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples in the Great Lakes region of C ...

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

Dakota Dakota may refer to: * Dakota people, a sub-tribe of the Sioux ** Dakota language, their language Dakota may also refer to: Places United States * Dakota, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Dakota, Illinois, a town * Dakota, Minnesota ...

and

Chipewyan The Chipewyan ( , also called ''Denésoliné'' or ''Dënesųłı̨né'' or ''Dënë Sųłınë́'', meaning "the original/real people") are a Dene group of Indigenous Canadian people belonging to the Athabaskan language family, whose ancest ...

. The collection provides a glimpse of pre-European contact life in the boreal forest, aspen parkland, and prairie regions of Manitoba. Most artifacts were used for hunting, hide preparation, and food preparation. These include projectile points, bifaces, scrapers, grooved axe heads, mauls, pottery and rim shards. Ethnological objects include moccasins, mitts, garments, beaded necklaces, and clothing accessories.

The Christopher Stephen Quelch Lepidoptera Collection

The Christopher Stephen Quelch

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

Collection contains over 8000 specimens of moths and butterflies from across the world with a focus on Manitoba. The collection also contains over 1000 birds eggs.

CN 2747

In 2015, the Transcona Museum acquired the CN 2747 steam locomotive. The CN 2747 was the first steam locomotive built in the Western Region by CN and was built in the Transcona Shops. It was the first of 33 steam locomotives that were built at the Transcona Shops. In 1960, the engine was retired and placed in the then Kiwanis Park for the community as "''a token of the dedication of the citizens of the Town of Transcona"'' of the In 2017, the museum had a condition assessment completed and began to make repairs to preserve the life of the engine. The museum is currently fundraising to build a protective enclosure over the engine to protect it from the elements but also provide additional accessibility and interpretation opportunities while keeping the engine secure.

Current exhibits

* Common Technology: From Past Lives to Future Ideas * Celebrating 50 Years: The Founding of the Transcona Museum * Treasures of the Transcona Museum * Interactive Discovery Centre * Virtual Exhibit: "Serving King and Country: Transcona's Hometown Heroes"

Sources

Association of Manitoba Museums Directory

References

External links

Museum Website

Official Museum Blog

"Serving King and Country: Transcona's Hometown Heroes"
{{Commons History museums in Manitoba Museums in Winnipeg Museums established in 1967

Museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

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