An End of an Era

In a few months the Nelson Institute will have its library and museum separated. The new Nel­son Provincial Museum at Isel Park will probably be completed by June and by next summer should be suitably furnished for viewing. The Nelson Institute was formed in England before the first settlers arrived. On September 27, 1842, a library and reading room was opened at the foot of Church Hill, Museum pieces were stored there but were not displayed. In 1859 the foundation stone for the new building, on the present site, was laid and the building was opened about the end of 1861. In March of 1861, when the building was almost completed, a museum exhibi­tion was held. In 1906 the library building was burned down and it was in 1911 that the foundation stone for the new building was laid. It opened in 1912. The museum was not damaged in the fire. Alternative rooms for a library were found until the new one was opened.

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The present library and museum

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The museum curator, Jim Eyles, with a few of the artifacts and exhibition pieces that will have to be shifted