Museums & Historic Sites
Alberta is famous for its outstanding museums and many historic sites and areas. Discover the past through displays and collections, traveling exhibits, special events and interactive heritage activities—fun for the Alberta history buff and the whole family.
Getting Started
Discover Alberta's rich legacy of railways, aerospace, pioneer life, sports and multiculturalism. Start your quest at either Alberta's Museums & Historic Sites or Alberta Heritage where you'll find hundreds of museums, historic sites and cultural attractions around Alberta. To get you started, below we've listed some favourite sites in Edmonton and area.
The Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, 25 minutes east of Edmonton on Hwy 16, is an open air museum that features 33 restored historic buildings. Interpreters portray individuals who lived and worked in the area from 1892 to 1930.
If you’re a railway enthusiast or looking to take the family on an interesting outing, the Alberta Railway Museum has more than 50 old locomotives and railway cars, including the only complete set of a Northern Alberta Railways work train. In the summer take a ride on a speeder car. Locomotive passenger service is available on holiday weekends.
Take a look at how Alberta's oil and gas industry began: visit the Canadian Petroleum Discovery Centre in Leduc, just south of Edmonton. The Leduc #1 Historical Site relives the now-famous find on February 13, 1947 that heralded the beginnings of Alberta's oil patch and paved the way to our status today as a global producer.
Fort Edmonton Historic Park features 75 structures, many of them originals. The past comes to life from Edmonton’s fur trading days. Costumed interpreters recreate the 1846 Hudson’s Bay Fort and the Native Encampment. Learn about the lives and experiences of the Métis who played a role in Edmonton's development. Overnight accommodation is available right in the park, at the elegantly restored Hotel Selkirk.
Nestled inside St. Albert Place is the Musée Héritage Museum which explores the story of St. Albert through a variety of programs, preserving the community's history for the future. Its Discovery Room will delight children of all ages.
At the Royal Alberta Museum the permanent exhibits include the Syncrude Gallery of Aboriginal Cultures, which tells the story of 11,000 years of First Nations settlement on this continent; the Natural History Gallery and Wild Alberta. Feature exhibitions change regularly so there is always something new to see.
Take afternoon tea at the Arbour Restaurant at Rutherford House, the restored Edwardian mansion that was home to Alberta’s first premier. Interpreters in period costume perform household duties of the time and lead tours.
The Telephone Historical Centre is a hands-on museum with an amazing collection of vintage telephone and telegraph equipment. You can even work an early switchboard. Its archives include Edmonton telephone directories dating back to the early 1900s.
More Info...
Alberta has so many excellent museums, heritage and historic sites—it's impossible to list them all here. For access to a comprehensive list, click on Advanced under the search window on the top right corner of this page. Choose the Categories tab, click on Attractions and select Historic/Cultural/Religious Sites/Museums.
