Revelstoke Museum & Archives Heritage Garden celebrates 20 years

Revelstoke Museum & Archives (RMA) Heritage Garden is nestled along the south side of the museum’s current location, once the old Revelstoke post office. For a piece of greenery that leads out to Revelstoke’s First Street, the main thoroughfare through downtown and with train activity noticeable in the background, the garden has gained a reputation as an oasis. For 20 years it has hosted museum programs, community celebrations, private functions and more, making it a living part of the community.

“It’s a completely volunteer-run garden, and it created just a lovely green space,” Cathy English, RMA curator told Revelstoke Mountaineer. “You walk in there and just feel this sense of peace.”

The Heritage Garden sits in what used to be the access alleyway and loading zone for the old post office, a space that some folks thought would be too narrow to create a functioning garden space in. But museum board member Liz Barker, who envisioned the project and spearheaded the build, was determined to create the space. Soon, community members rallied around the project, providing brick-laying labour, carpentry for the pergola, fence installation and more. This included bricks from two key buildings in Revelstoke’s past; bricks from the old Queen Victoria Hospital and from the old Canadian Pacific Railway station. 

The community also stepped in to help fund a majority of the build.

“We raised $40,000 for the project, and maybe $5,000 of that was low grants. The rest was donations,” English said. It helped start the garden off as a place created by the community for the community.

“People really feel like they have a stake in what we do here,” English said, pointing to the recent access lift project that received large amounts of community donations as well. 

Support for the Heritage Garden didn’t just show up financially when the project started in 2001 and when the garden opened in 2004. Plants from the community were donated when the garden opened, and each heirloom plant now marks a piece of Revelstoke’s history. The rhubarb  came from Charlie Sing’s garden, a market-level gardener whose horse-drawn produce cart ran from 1915 until his death in 1954 and whose smiling photo greets visitors to the garden. The lily of the valley was once maintained by Eva Burn, a local schoolteacher whose beloved garden grew numerous plants used in her science classes. The Revelstoke daylily was developed by Henry Lorrain in Ontario to showcase the town his sister called home.

The garden also showcases plants that called the area home long before Revelstoke was even planned, providing information about the various native plant species found in the region. That mix not only creates a range of plants for guests to explore, it also showcases a necessary narrative in Revelstoke’s history.

“We really try and share every story, every community that’s been here, and that includes the nations that were here long before this was Revelstoke,” English said. The entire RMA team strives to showcase the stories that at one point were frequently overlooked.

“It’s building trust within people, letting them know that we really care about their stories,” English said when asked how the RMA has worked to collect community stories. “We’ve  realized over the years that honoring people’s stories and people’s memories is probably one of the most important things that a museum can do, particularly a community history museum.”

While a heritage garden might not be front of mind when folks stop to visit a museum, RMA’s Heritage Garden will remain a key tool in helping share community stories. Whether by being a space one can come and learn about the history of Revelstoke or share their own Revelstoke story. That will be key in keeping the community spirit that built a garden, a museum collection and an access lift going. 

“We all love Revelstoke, we all want Revelstoke to thrive,” English said. “Whether you’ve been here for 70 years or seven months, I think we can really come together for this town.”