Salt Spring Island’s largest source of stories and experiences sharing our island heritage
Stories come to life at the Salt Spring Museum
The Salt Spring Island Museum offers a window into the life of our island. A look at the lives of early settlers from the 1850s to 1950. Consisting entirely of local artifacts, donated or loaned by Salt Spring families, it illustrates many aspects of farming and homesteading on Salt Spring Island.
Admission to the museum is free. We welcome school groups and tour operators: contact us. Donations are appreciated and all go to the maintenance of the museum.
Hours & Location
Starting May 16th, 2025, the Salt Spring Museum will be open Wednesday to Friday and Sunday from 11am to 3pm.
Collections
Extraordinary and interactive indoor/outdoor exhibits bring Salt Spring Island’s history to life.
Education
Bring your class to the Salt Spring Museum for a hands-on, fun day of discovery. Find lesson plans, activities and arrange demonstrations here.
The Salt Spring Museum's main exhibits are located in the Bittancourt House, one of the "dowry houses" that had been built in 1884 by Estalon Bittancourt for his daughters, on his property at Vesuvius Bay.
The house was donated to the Farmers’ Institute and moved to their property on Rainbow Road in Ganges. In 1978, the Salt Spring Island Farmers' Institute opened a museum in this small, four roomed building. Since then, it has been expanded to seven rooms.
Volunteers from the Farmers' Institute have now added three extensions to the building to accommodate the expanding collection. Some of the more prominent items are a large model of the HMS Ganges, the warship from the 1800s after which the town of Ganges was named. The uniform and medals belonging to Captain Paul Bion, a Salt Spring farmer who fought for the French army in WW1 and was highly decorated. Two large murals painted by Alfred Temmel depicting the arrival of the first settlers on the island and a large collection of tools and implements used by farmers in the early 1900s. { READ MORE }
HOURS OF OPERATION
SPRING
Starting May 16th
Wednesday to Friday
& Sunday
11am-3pm
SUMMER
June thru September
Wednesday to Friday
& Sunday
11am-3pm
AUTUMN
Closing October 10th
Wednesday to Friday
& Sunday
11am-3pm
MUSEUM TOURS
Closing Oct. 11th, 2024
Contact us to book a tour during the winter months.
Anyone wishing to visit the museum outside of the regular hours can do so by emailing us.
