In 1912 the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE) was incorporated to establish a rail line from Vancouver to Prince George, where it would connect with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTP). By 1921 the line extended north from Squamish to a point 25 kms north of Quesnel (thus it was said to run “nowhere to nowhere”), but it was not until 1952 that the line finally made it as far as Prince George. A few years later, in 1958, the line was completed further north to Fort St John and Dawson Creek. Eventually the line proceeded even further north to Fort Nelson. These two photographs were taken in October 1958 in Prince George during one of the earliest trips of the PGE from Vancouver to the Peace Country. #tbt #cityofpg #explace #history

Join our Fort George Explorers After School Care team (part-time) or apply for our Visitor Services Assistant position (full-time). Please feel free to share and tag anyone who may be interested!

We love these mugs that change...just add hot water and see for yourself! We have a Birds on a Wire, Climate Change, Disappearing Dinosaur, Constellation, Schrodinger's Cat Mug Set and more! Come check out this #featurefriday in available in our gift shop. Your purchases support The Exploration Place, a Northern BC registered charity! Instagram Video Credit: The Unemployed Philosophers Guild

On this day, 84 years ago, a relief plane flew into Prince George which held Mr. Jimmy Mattern, an American aviator. The story that accompanies these images was taken from the July 27, 1933 front page of the Prince George Citizen. “Jimmy Mattern, the man who started out several weeks ago to turn in the first solo flight around the top of the word winged his way into Prince George Thursday morning. The relief plane started out to look for him when Jimmy was first reported lost on his hop from Khabarovsk, in Siberia, to Nome in Alaska. It was generally known Mattern would be along sometime during the morning, as arrangements had been made to fuel his plane here, and when the machine appeared in the sky there was a great scurrying of autos to the municipal landing field. Some of the autos were in the field in time to see the landing, and within a few moments there was a flock of them strung out along the roadway which adjoins the filed. Mattern did not break any flying records, and he was even cheated out of the honor of having the first solo flight around the world, but he had done something else which probably meant a greater endurance test. He had crashed his plane in a stream in the Arctic, in which the ice was still running, and for twenty days had been given up as lost. The place where Mattern came down is about 80 miles from the trading post at Anadyr, off the route of travel and the going was rough. The Airman did not lose hope, however. When had had used up his scanty emergency rations he kept himself alive with what he could bring down with his rifle which had been presented to him before take-off at Khabarovsk, and several days later a number of fisherman saw his signals and brought him into Anadyr. From this point the radio told the world of his rescue. His plane was hopelessly smashed and he has to wait at Anadyr until the Russian air officials could send a plane to bring him out to Nome. A succession of hard luck prevented Mattern from carrying through his original plan but the difficulties he overcame made him an interesting personality. There was quite a crowd waiting to give him a hand-shake when he stepped out of his plane on the municipal field. His run of bad luck has not soured Mattern. He must have been tremendously disappointed but he covered it up effectually with a very pleasant smile and appeared to appreciate the interest Prince George residents evidenced in his welfare. Mattern struck everyone on the landing field as being very fit. The hardships he underwent while he was lost in the wilds of Siberia evidently left no mark upon him and he was the most cheerful and best groomed of the bunch of pilots who are accompanying him on the last stages of his world flight.” #cityofpg #history #explace #tbt #jimmiemattern

When you're done learning all about sturgeon with Tourism PG you can swing by and meet the three we have in our palaeo gallery!

The stern-wheeler S.S. Nechacco was the first of three vessels constructed by the Fort George Lumber & Navigation Company. It was constructed in Quesnel by Don McPhee and launched from there in May of 1909. The stern-wheeler was placed under of the command of Captain John H. Bonser who originated from Oregon. He became interested in the Upper Fraser region and, upon his move to Fort George, purchased the S.S. Nechacco in 1909 from the original owners. After several successful runs Captain Bonswer sold the S.S. Nechacco, which was re-named the S.S. Chilco and was placed under the command of Captain George Ritchie. In November of 1910, the vessel blew a steam pipe a few miles above the Cottonwood Canyon and drifted onto rocks. Cargo was recovered but no attempt to salvage the vessel was made until April the following year. By May of 1911 the vessel was repaired and refloated only to meet disaster a few hours later in an ice jam further downstream in the Cottonwood Canyon. The Captain attempted to return upstream but another pipe blew leaving the vessel with no power. It capsized upon hitting the ice, sank and was never seen again. The crew was able to escape in a life boat, and there was no loss of life. #tbt #cityofpg #explace #history

We're going to be at the Downtown Summerfest this Sunday, and we hope you're able to take to the streets and join us!

Using artifacts, images, videos and art, "Echoes in the Ice: Finding Franklin’s Ship" examines Arctic exploration past and present and decodes the mysteries of the Franklin Expedition of 1845. See the exhibition from the Canada Science and Technology Museum at The Exploration Place starting today!

This week we feature a shot of downtown Prince George from 69 years ago. The new Royal Bank on the corner of 3rd Avenue and Quebec Street replaced the old one beside it, July 1948. The old building eventually moved to 2nd Avenue and Dominion Street. Do you recognize any other businesses on the street in the background? #tbt #history #explace #cityofpg

We would like to offer free admission to the families displaced by the fires in BC. Please grab the kids and come on down to the Museum, show the front desk staff your wrist bands or registration papers and spend a few hours exploring our galleries, meeting our critters or taking part in our science demos on us. We can't solve all the challenges you are facing but perhaps we can provide a distraction for your families!