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The Fernie Museum & Visitor Information Centre is located in one of Fernie's distinctive heritage buildings in Historic Downtown Fernie.
The Fernie Museum is open Thursday - Sunday 11am - 4pm.
The building itself, an important example of Fernie's rich history, boasts a main floor exhibit hall with the visitor info centre, as well as a lovely Museum Gallery on the 2nd floor. Public washrooms are available on each floor.
View current art exhibit by Kerri Parnell until June 11th, 2023.
Download PDF of Self-Guided Tour Map
Admission by Donation when the 2nd floor gallery is closed
Admission when the gallery is open: Adults $5, Seniors $4, Youth 18 & U and members free
The dual purpose of the facility as info centre and Museum allows visitors to discover a little about Fernie's colourful past while learning what Fernie and its businesses have to offer for recreation, entertainment, shopping, accommodation, and services.
Fernie's early history as well as changing exhibits on various themes are presented on the main floor.
The Fernie District Historical Society was founded in 1964 and is dedicated to preserving and presenting the history of Fernie by collecting and displaying photographs, artifacts and documents relating to Fernie's development. Homeless for the first 15 years, the Society struck an agreement with the Holy Family Church to use the vacant rectory behind the Church as a museum site.
On August 4, 1979, coinciding with Fernie's Diamond Jubilee, the museum was officially opened. The rectory served as Fernie's museum for twenty years until 1999 when the Church realized that it would soon need the property for its own purposes. Original displays in the museum were designed to showcase life in Fernie in the early part of the twentieth century.
The Museum Gallery on the 2nd floor features solo and group exhibitions by local, and regional artists, as well as local and touring historical exhibits. Gallery programming aims to promote professionalism and foster appreciation for arts and culture and bring awareness to the museum’s wealth of archival and artifact material.
On the surface, Fernie might seem like any mountain town: beautiful vistas, interesting shops, and over 90 accessible hiking and biking trails. But if you dig a little deeper, you will discover a rich and dramatic history.
Join one of our knowledgeable local guides for a 90-minute walking tour of historic downtown Fernie. Explore the stories of movers and shakers, rumrunners, devastating fires, coal mining disasters and legends of a Ktunaxa curse and discover how these people and events have helped to shape Fernie as we see it today.
