Vancouver Icons: Vancouver Maritime Museum
byThe Vancouver Maritime Museum was built around the RCMP vessel the St. Roch, a National Historic Site in Canada, in 1959. The building’s shape, reflecting the boats that surround it in the nearby marina and waters of the Salish Sea, tell of what treasures can be found within and make it a fitting subject for today’s Vancouver Icons photo feature:
Along with the the St. Roch, an historic arctic exploration vessel used by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the museum also has extensive galleries of model ships, including a particularly fine bone model of the French warship Vengeur du Peuple which was built around 1800 by French prisoners of war, a Children’s Maritime Discovery Centre, a recreation of the fo’c’sle (forecastle) of Vancouver’s ship Discovery, an extensive collection of maritime art, and a large library and archives.
Outdoor displays include the NASA undersea research vessel Ben Franklin and the boiler of the SS Beaver – the first steamship in the Pacific Northwest; the museum also has a small heritage harbour.
A great little “tourist in your hometown” trip is taking a False Creek Ferry to the Vancouver Maritime Museum stop, exploring the attraction, then hopping back on the ferry and heading over to Granville Island or one of its other False Creek stops for more adventures.
Follow the Vancouver Maritime Museum on Twitter and Facebook for more information.
Previous Vancouver Icons posts: Flack Block, The Drop, Prospect Point Lighthouse, Engagement, Ovaltine Cafe, The English Bay Slide, Freezing Water #7, Cleveland Dam, Heritage Hall, School of Theology Building at UBC, Gate to the Northwest Passage, St Paul’s Hospital, Capilano Lake, Stawamus Chief, Nine O’Clock Gun, Malkin Bowl, Search, Vancouver Rowing Club, Echoes, Point Atkinson Lighthouse, English Bay Inukshuk, Hollow Tree, Hotel Europe, Lions Gate Bridge Lions, LightShed, Granville Bridge, 217.5 Arc x 13′, Canoe Bridge, Vancouver Block, Bloedel Conservatory, Centennial Rocket, Canada Place, Old Courthouse/Vancouver Art Gallery, Dominion Building, Science World, Gastown Steam Clock, SFU Burnaby, Commodore Lanes, Siwash Rock, Kitsilano Pool, White Rock Pier, Main Post Office, Planetarium Building, Lord Stanley Statue, Vancouver Library Central Branch, Victory Square, Digital Orca, The Crab Sculpture, Girl in Wetsuit, The Sun Tower, The Hotel Vancouver, The Gassy Jack Statue, The Marine Building, and The Angel of Victory. Should you have a suggestion for the Vancouver Icons series please feel free to leave a note in the comments. It should be a thing, statue, or place that is very visible and recognizable to the public.