Transcona Museum


Transcona Museum is a museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, that maintains and promotes the history, stories and community spirit of the neighbourhood of Transcona. The museum was founded in 1967 as Transcona's Centennial Project celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada and officially opened on October 15, 1968. It was originally located in the basement of the Transcona Public Library.
Today, the museum is located in the only municipally designated heritage building in Transcona. This historic building was originally constructed by the Bank of Toronto in 1925 and later served as the Transcona Municipal Office. This building is owned and operated by the City of Winnipeg.
Over the years, the TM has acquired an extensive collection of artifacts, photographs and documentary records that together tell the story of Transcona's community history. These collections include everything from railway artifacts, items from early Transcona businesses, historic clothing and household objects, to special natural and cultural history collections. The Museum is affiliated with the CMA, CHIN, and Virtual Museum of Canada.
In the early 2000s Transcona Museum planned for expansion.

Archives

The Archives contains documents reflecting the history of Transcona and surrounding area. The archival collection consists primarily of photographs and textual documents including maps, plans, technical drawings, minutes, correspondence, newspapers, and ephemeral records. The main subjects represented include railways - primarily the Canadian National Railway in Transcona, municipal records of the Town and City of Transcona, World War II, local organizations, education, sports, special events, and individuals in the community.

Collections

The Transcona Museum is home to an extensive collection of roughly 4,000 community based artifacts, many of which were used by people in Transcona. The diverse nature of the holdings are composed of material culture artifacts which depict the human history of the area. The collection holdings include household artifacts and domestic tools, decorative art objects, personal care artifacts, mechanical tools and equipment, technological office equipment, farming implements and equipment, transportation artifacts, leisure artifacts, and a wide range of military objects related to the Boer War, First World War, and Second World War.
The Transcona Museum preserves a collection of over 800 clothing and textiles articles from Transcona residents.

The Cecil Patterson Archaeology Collection

The Cecil Patterson Archaeology Collection contains roughly 3,500 artifacts from over 80 archaeological sites across Manitoba. The earliest pieces in the collection were made over 10,000 years ago. The collection is composed of archaeological objects from many of Manitoba's First Nations cultures, including the Cree, Anishnabe, Inuit, Dakota and Chipewyan.
The collection provides a glimpse of pre-European contact life in the boreal forest, aspen parkland, and prairie regions of Manitoba. Most artifacts were used for hunting, hide preparation, and food preparation. These include projectile points, bifaces, scrapers, grooved axe heads, mauls, pottery and rim shards. Ethnological objects include moccasins, mitts, garments, beaded necklaces, and clothing accessories.

The Norman Mersey Gun Collection

The Norman Mersey Gun Collection contains 40 firearms from the 18th to 20th century.

The Christopher Stephen Quelch Lepidoptera Collection

The Christopher Stephen Quelch Lepidoptera Collection contains over 8000 specimens of moths and butterflies from across the world with a focus on Manitoba. The collection also contains 1200 birds eggs.

Current Exhibits