Banff Museum Historic Site<\/p><\/div>\n

Banff tourism boomed in the late 19th century, when the completion of the railway to Banff gave folks wanting a mountain experience easy access to the Canadian Rockies.\u00a0 The town of Banff sprang up and the museum was constructed as a site that would be of interest to tourists.\u00a0 It was a way to see all the animals in the Canadian Rockies without leaving the town of Banff.\u00a0 Immediately adjoining it in the old days was the Banff Zoo — yes, you heard that correctly — there was a zoo in this National Park, where people could see grizzly bears and such up close.\u00a0 The zoo is long gone and has been replaced by a nice public park, but the Banff Park Museum sits there to remind us of times gone by.\u00a0 It’s even said to be haunted by a ghost!<\/p>\n

The Banff Park Museum has 5,000 vintage specimens \u2013 many of them stuffed animals and birds, but also a collections of rocks and plants.\u00a0 It’s a fascinating step back in time, to see how natural history was interpreted and presented a century ago, and does offer people a way to see the diversity of wildlife (admittedly just taxidermy specimens) in the west under one roof.\u00a0\u00a0 The museum and its collection is largely the product of it’s first curator (1896-1932),\u00a0 the enthusiastic Norman Bethune Sanson.<\/p>\n

Admission is only a few dollars and if you like Natural History or historic buildings, it’s worth an hour or two of your time to explore this one.\u00a0 The building has a wonderful library\/reading room, and beside it an interactive Discover room where kids can view videos and touch specimens, like antlers and fur.<\/p>\n

A few more image of the museum follow:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \t