Current Exhibits
2024
Crimes, Fines, & Hard Times
Join PoCo Heritage in an investigation into the crimes of PoCo’s past! This time, we’ve delved into the archives and pulled out the scandalous stories of our city’s early years. From bootlegging in the depths of prohibition to criminal cattle trampling cabbages, come see what warranted a trip to the courts.
This feature exhibit will run from September, 2024 – August 2025.
2023
The Story of the Bottles
Explore the history of the Chinese community in early Port Coquitlam through our collection of glassware and ceramics!
This exhibit was made possible by donors and sponsors of our 2022 Moon Festival event, organized in Partnership with the Tri-City Chinese Community Society and Canada Vietnam Society.
Permanent Exhibits
2022
Port Coquitlam’s F Words – Digital Museums Canada (Online)
An online exhibit exploring PoCo’s disasters beginnings through the illustrations of local artist Brad Nickason, archival images, and interviews. Available in both French and English with closed captioning, transcripts, and alternate text.
2018
Port Coquitlam’s Historical Continuum
This series of interpretive panels runs along the public Port Coquitlam’s Traboulay PoCo Trail, from Lions Park to Gates Park, and invites you to explore the natural and cultural history of Port Coquitlam in a series of beautiful locations along the Coquitlam River.
This Continuum series was created in collaboration with Kwikwetlem First Nation, with the support of the City of Port Coquitlam, as a Canada 150 Building Lasting Legacies project.
While you are travelling along the Continuum, check out our Geocache! This is a family-friendly FREE activity, and a great way to learn more about Port Coquitlam.
This display series was made possible with funding from British Columbia Canada 150: Celebrating B.C. Communities and their Contributions to Canada grant.
2013
The Story of Port Coquitlam
Explore the history of our community, Indigenous and settler, through our permanent Story of Port Coquitlam Exhibit. Featuring art, archival photographs, historic maps, and more!
Past Exhibits
2023
A History of Lacrosse in Port Coquitlam
2023
100 Years of May Day
These two exhibits in the Port Coquitlam Community Centre and Port Coquitlam City Hall explore the history of May Day in the city of Port Coquitlam. Using archival photograph and artifacts, the history of May Day in our city is traced back to the beginnings.
These exhibits were made possibly by the City of Port Coquitlam and the Downtown Port Coquitlam BIA.
2023
Nowruz in Port Coquitlam
Produced in partnership with the organizer of Port Coquitlam’s annual Sizdah Bedar event, this exhibit explores the origins and traditions of Persian New Year and how it is celebrated today in our city.
2022
The Coquitlam River: A Fishy Story
This Carol Hubbard Memorial Natural History Exhibit explores the Coquitlam River for which our city was named. Produced in partnership with Stream of Dreams, the Maple Creek Stream Keepers, Our Lady of the Assumption School, and Art Focus Artists’ Association, this exhibit features some of the history of our namesake watershed brought to life with art from the community.
From a river teeming with salmon to the brink of destruction and back again, our river has been through a lot and it’s up to the community to make a difference!
This exhibit was made possible with additional funding from Telus.
2022
How Heritage Happens
An online exhibit exploring behind-the-scenes of our Chinese glassware collection, highlighting the diversity and collaboration required to properly understand and share heritage.
2021
Pride in PoCo
An online exhibit exploring the history of Pride within our community, and highlighting the stories of those individuals who have helped shape public perception and politics surrounding LGBTQ2+ issues in Canada.
2021
Photograph Restoration
An online exhibit showcasing a number of digitally restored photographs. Scroll through the photos to see the restoration and read the descriptions to learn a little bit about their history.
2020
Quaran-Tales
An online remote program engaging and connecting you to your community during the COVID-19 pandemic.
View the Exhibit online today!
2020
The “F” Words: Flu, Fire, Flood and Financial Fears
This exhibit explored four ruinous events – Spanish Flu, a raging downtown fire, a devastating flood, and an economic financial crash – which occurred very early on in Port Coquitlam’s history.
Any one of these events could have spelled the end for the newly created City of Port Coquitlam, but the city’s resilient spirit and persistence in the face of adversity carried them through these troubled times into a prosperous future.
2019
Naturally PoCo
This exhibit will explore Port Coquitlam’s natural beauty through the lenses of community photographers.
Every year the residents of Port Coquitlam submit their photos to our exhibit collaborators, the City of Port Coquitlam, for publication in the City’s “Naturally PoCo” Community Calendar. In our Naturally PoCo exhibit we will be exhibiting a selection of the hundreds of photos that do not make it into the calendar. Come explore Port Coquitlam’s beautiful seasons with us!
2018
Port Coquitlam Sports Hall of Fame
An interactive kiosk installation highlighting the stories of inductees to the Port Coquitlam Sport Hall of Fame. Produced as a partnership between the City of Port Coquitlam, PoCo Heritage, NGX Interactive, and the Port Coquitlam Sports Alliance.
2018
Carol Hubbard Memorial Natural History Exhibit: The Secret Life of Trees
Join us for an exciting journey of discovery and learning about the complex, vibrant, and surprisingly chatty life of our surrounding rural and urban forests. The exhibit includes an enchanting indoor forest, and many fun and engaging activities including a woodland scavenger hunt, leaf colouring, and a take-home tree seed planting activity!
The secret life of trees exhibits, created in partnership with PoCo Heritage Trees, presents a close up and intimate look at the magnificent community of giants that we live amongst.
This exhibit was made possible with additional funding from Telus, the Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program, and the Friends of Leigh Square Society.
2017
PoCo Stories: Sports
This PoCo Stories series explored the proud and prolific history of sports in Port Coquitlam, and featured a selection of the many notable athletes, coaches, and teams that have contributed to this community and helped shape the place it has become.
2017
Terry Fox: Running to the Heart of Canada
This nationally travelling exhibit was produced by the Canadian Museum of History in partnership with the Terry Fox Centre, to commemorate the 35th anniversary of Terry Fox’s heroic Marathon of Hope. This exhibit featured panels exploring Terry’s inspirational journey across Canada and the impact his unflagging spirit has had on Canadians, and the rest of the world.
This exhibit was made possible with additional funding from the City of Port Coquitlam’s Community Cultural Development Investment Program.
Terry Fox: Hometown Legacy
This exhibit, created as a complementary exhibit to the nationally travelling exhibit, “Terry Fox: Running to the Heart of Canada”, explores Terry’s vision and lasting legacy. This exhibit explores the relationship between the young Terry Fox growing up in Port Coquitlam, and how Port Coquitlam was in turn transformed by Terry and how the city has continued to rally around Terry’s cause. This exhibit is a testament to the very deep connection this city has maintained to its hometown hero.
This exhibit was created in collaboration with the Fox Family and The Terry Fox Foundation B.C. Yukon.
Journeys and Connections
As Canada celebrated our 150th Anniversary this year, this exhibit took a look back and explored where in the world we came from, how we journeyed here, the challenges we faced along the road, and how we communicated with those we left behind. This exhibit also included the production of a heartwarming video highlighting local resident’s personal stories of “Journeys and Connections” which was filmed during Port Coquitlam’s sesquicentennial celebration.
2016
Carol Hubbard Memorial Natural History Exhibit: (Un)Natural Selection: Adapting to an Urban Environment
The second Carol Hubbard Memorial Natural History Exhibit* explored local population growth over the last 150 years, and what impact this growth has had on local wildlife and their complex ecosystems. With help from local photographers whose photos were included throughout the exhibit, and our fishy mascot Redd the salmon, this display was a fun, interactive community-focused exhibit.
This exhibit was made possible with additional funding from Telus.
PoCo Stories: Buildings – The Changing Face of Port Coquitlam
This segment of the PoCo Stories series featured the iconic buildings of Port Coquitlam. From City Hall, to the businesses that put down roots and changed with the years, to the city’s heritage homes, this exhibit explored the buildings that make Port Coquitlam unique.
PoCo Stories: Arts & Culture
This PoCo Stories exhibit explored the who’s who of the names and organizations involved in Arts and Culture in Port Coquitlam. The exhibit included those who encourage the arts, music, creative writing, and performing arts, as well as well-known and up-and-coming names to watch for in the Port Coquitlam Arts & Culture scene.
PoCo Stories: Events
This addition to the PoCo Stories series looked at the special events and festivals that have brought the people of Port Coquitlam together over the years. This exhibit explored one-time special events, celebrations that are no longer held, and those community celebrations that are still going strong like the Downtown Car Show, May Days, and the Terry Fox Hometown Run.
PoCo Stories: People
This PoCo Stories exhibit featured stories about people, past and present, who give Port Coquitlam its multifaceted character. All were, and are notable in their own way and have contributed something special to Port Coquitlam. Lois McCready was specially featured, as she was instrumental in making PoCo Heritage what it is today.
2015
Carol Hubbard Memorial Natural History Exhibit: That Cold Crushing Feeling
This inaugural exhibit of the newly created Carol Hubbard Memorial Natural History Exhibit series focused on the local impact of the last ice age, which lasted approximately 100,000 years and ended only 15,000 years ago. The exhibit examined human migration, species loss, and the ice age’s effects on our local landscape such as rivers, lakes and hills. The exhibit illustrated this information with a variety of hands-on display elements, in addition to multimedia displays which included an entertaining video quiz.
This exhibit was made possible with additional funding from Telus.
Main Street: The Heart of Our Community
This exhibit was a look at Port Coquitlam’s old downtown. The centre of downtown was originally built around the train station, and “Main Street” was on Dewdney Trunk Road, now known as Kingsway Avenue. The exhibit took visitors on a nostalgic trip down memory lane, with décor, music, and photos from the 1950s when the centre of city downtown life was at “Pop’s Café” in downtown Port Coquitlam.
2014
Westminster Junction to the Western Front
To commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the start of World War I, this exhibit featured stories about the Port Coquitlam men and women who were involved in the war effort, and how the conflict affected our city. While the contributions of all community members were part of the story, those of Thomas and Harold Routley were a specially featured. The Routleys played prominent roles in Port Coquitlam, and as members of the Railway Battalion they were instrumental in getting essential goods to the front. This contribution to the war effort underlined the importance of the railway in Port Coquitlam’s history.
Heritage Afloat in Port Coquitlam
This exhibit was adapted from Heritage BC’s Heritage Week theme for the year. Port Coquitlam is surrounded by rivers, and so this exhibit featured stories about the men and women who worked the rivers, and the business that developed along the waterways and their importance to the community.
This exhibit was made possible with additional funding from Harken Towing.
The Carol Hubbard Memorial Natural History Exhibit
The Carol Hubbard Memorial Natural History Exhibit (CHMNHE) series was created to honour our long-time friend and Secretary who passed away in 2013. Carol had a strong interest in nature and would have loved to be remembered with an annual natural history exhibit.
The PoCo Heritage Museum and Archives is supported by the City of Port Coquitlam’s grant funding and in-kind support contributions. We would like to thank the City of Port Coquitlam for their continued support!
