Collections & Research

Photograph by Thomas Drasdauskis

Although gold rush towns boomed all over the west in the 1800s, Barkerville is unique, with over 100 heritage structures still standing on the spot that they were built. In addition, there are two historic cemeteries and 187 000 precious objects and photographs in the museum collection. Barkerville’s Chinatown is the largest collection of pre-railway Chinese buildings in North America and Barkerville has one of the largest Chinese archival collections in Canada. The townsite is surrounded by historic and cultural landscapes – huge pits from hydraulic mining, tailings piles dozens of feet high, kilometres of hand dug ditches that brought water to run the mining equipment – where the impact of human hands is still evident even after 140 years.

This level of collection and preservation is unusual and presents both a tremendous opportunity and a big responsibility. It is a testament to the forethought of the British Columbia residents in the 1950s that supported the Restoration Project. The Barkerville Heritage Trust (the non-profit charity that manages Barkerville on behalf of the Province) is committed to continuing this legacy by ensuring that the highest possible standard of care is given to the buildings and the collection and that a rigorous level of accuracy is maintained when presenting the site to the public.

Barkerville does not represent any single moment in time, but rather the ongoing process of community development – from the discovery and growth years in the 1860s, through many ‘boom and bust’ cycles, and finally, the transformation into a historic site and tourist attraction from the 1950s to the present.

When complete, this Collections and Research section of the website will introduce you to the history of Barkerville, current research and to the portions of our collections that can be viewed via the web.

Mail: PO Box 19, Barkerville, BC V0K 1B0 CANADA

Toll Free: 1-888-994-3332

Phone: 1-250-994-3332 E-mail:barkerville@barkerville.ca