Lytton Chinese History Museum

Pretty new museum, a bit small, but rich in history and wonderful artifacts from Chinatowns in the area from the Gold Rush and the CPR era. Curator also offered much information on the history of the Chinese in Lytton.

Edit: I am shocked and saddened to see the devastation wrought by the wildfire in late June this year. My heart goes out to the people of Lytton, I hope the museum was able to save some of their invaluable and irreplaceable cultural and historical treasures, and I hope the museum can rebuild for future generations to enjoy the rich history and culture of the area.

Definitely unfortunate that this museum burned down, considering all the time and effort that went into building up the collection of artifacts (the museum claimed they have some 1,600 artifacts stored there). For those wondering if at least some of the collection survived, sadly, the vast majority of the artifacts (probably at least 95% of them) were lost as there was no time to move any of them out of the building due to how quickly the wildfire engulfed the town. In doing some research, it appears some vases and such were recovered from the site, but not much else. In other words, they essentially have to rebuilt much of the collection from scratch. I'm hoping they can rebuild and restore this museum as best as they can, but it will definitely be a long and excruciating process.

In the future, I will hope to be able to visit the new museum myself whenever I am able to. Take care!

(Review written on December 30, 2023, just to note for timing)

Update: I am extremely devastated to find out this museum burned down in the 2021 fire. The owner had expressed how much effort she had put into collecting the artefacts and ensuring she was displaying them accurately. IMHO, this was the best Chinese museum in BC. I hope it can be restored, whether anything was salvageable or a new collection is made. Sorry for your loss. I believe it's a loss to all.

Original: The owners are not Chinese, but this is an amazing and accurate museum about Chinese history in BC. A retired woman personally manages and operates it and she showed us around and told us about the background of the museum. She felt compelled to preserve the history of Chinese workers in the area and started this museum about 4 years ago. You can tell she is very passionate about this.

It is a small museum, but packed with a wealth of history and information. As a Chinese person born and raise in Canada, I'm deeply impressed by and grateful for a place like this that celebrates Chinese contribution to Canada, showcases Chinese history, and reminds people of how the treatment of Chinese immigrants in Canada have been and transformed over the last century. I came with my parents and it was a fun throwback for them. They recognized a lot of the items and taught me about them. I didn't know about most of them and learned a lot!

Some of the artifacts are sourced from Lytton, but most are collected from all around the region. The museum has a research centre downstairs (not open to public) where they dedicate time to learning more about artifacts they find and restore them. I think it's really amazing.

10/10 ⭐ I want to bring my future kids here when I make them so they can learn about their heritage!

Surprising and awesome historical museum in the tiny village of Lytton! You learn a lot about the history of Chinese migrants and their role in the railways construction. The lady who dedicated her retirement to build this museum is charming and a priceless source of knowledge.
When you're traveling on this scenic road chances are you're more a nature lover than a museum seeker. But honestly, we felt that the roadtrip in the Fraser Valley would have been meaningless without the visit of this museum.

Great little private museum to learn about Chinese culture in the Lytton area. The owner is quite passionate to preserve Chinese history for the future generations. Entry by donation and highly recommended to keep this place going for the future generation.

15July2021 - I am very shocked to learn that the museum did not survive the forest fire. I hope you were able to move/save some of the artifacts. Let us know, how can I help/contribute to the rebuilding efforts of the museum.

Small museum full of very interesting history of Chinese building the CP railway in BC. Extremely hard dangerous work. Where was the WCB?

The town was still closed to all visitors. Hope one day it could be rebuilt to a better state than what it was.

Great job! As the weather getting warmer in the coming year ~I would like to go

A little gem in the Canyon. A must stop to learn about the Chinese History in the Canyon.

Would of been great to see but it was closed

Awesome place and very informative and great people

Excellent, dedicated, beautiful piece of history

一位當地加拿大人獲悉自己買下來的一塊土地歷史上曾經是一處華人廟宇，出於保存當地中華文化的熱忱，她按照原來舊址的大小，建立起來一座中華文化博物館，收藏了大量文物，重新展現了19世紀華人在當地生活的那段歷史，領參觀者伏擊追惜，不勝感慨! 博物館陳列了1千多件文物，反應了當時華人文化的方方面面。
透過這個文化窗口我們也可以看到加拿大多元文化社會的斑斕與色彩，對我們新一代華人移民當然是一種鞭策。

Because of Lytton's record breaking temperature couple of days ago I got to know this place and found there is a Chinese History Museum. I was planning to visit the museum this summer. However, due to the forest fire, 90% of the town houses including the Chinese History Museum is destroyed. So sad.
卑詩內陸威廉斯湖（Williams
Lake）收藏家貝克（Reg Beck）是一
位年近8旬的退休教師，他被利頓
華人歷史博物館館主洛娜（ L o r n a
Fandrich）傳承華裔文化的誠意所感
動，加上去年威廉斯湖嚴重山林大火
也讓他擔心文物的安全，決定全數出
讓手上的文物。美國一個華裔歷史研
究中心考察過這批文物後，也對其價
值給予肯定。

I guess those 800 articles that were acquired from Reg Beck are all destroyed by this forest fires too.

海纳百川