Sechelt Community Archives

Digital Collections


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Other Sunshine Coast History Sites

Sunshine Coast Museum and Archives

Shishalh Nation Tems Swiya Museum

Pender Harbour Living Heritage Society

Egmont Heritage Centre

 

Historical Newspapers

Coast Reporter (1945-1995)

Peninsula Times (1963-1979)

Nestled a ferry ride north of the city of Vancouver on the Strait of Georgia, the village of Sechelt has a long and proud history in British Columbia.

The archive's featured digital collections include:

 

Historical Photographs

The photographs in the Sechelt Community Archives chronicle the life of the community from its early days as a home to First Nations and pioneer families, as a popular stop on the Union Steamship line, and as the vibrant and thriving community it is today.

The cornerstone of the archives' historical photographs, the Helen Dawe Collection is comprised of more than 5,000 images that capture moments in the life of the Sunshine Coast from the 1870s to 1983. This collection was the work of Helen Isabel Dawe (1914-1983).

Born and brought up in Vancouver with summer holidays spent at her mother's home in Sechelt, Helen Dawe was the daughter of Captain Sam Dawe and his wife Ada who had come to Sechelt as an infant in 1894 with her parents, Thomas John and Sarah Cook.


Correspondence

Friends since childhood, Helen Dawe and Betty Youngson continued to correspond with one another in their later years. Their letters, both touching and humorous, capture delightful details, not only of their lives, but of moments in Sechelt's past.

 

 

 


Oral History

The Archive's digital oral history collection includes the recollections of many Sechelt citizens as well as the reminiscences of Isabel Sweeny (Bell-Irving) who recounts a childhood holiday spent in Sechelt circa 1900.

 

 

 

 

 


The Sechelt Community Archives gratefully acknowledges the support of the many members of the community who have generously shared their photographs and memories for this project, as well as UBC's Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, The District of Sechelt and the Sunshine Coast Regional District who helped make this digital collection a reality.

Copyright © The Sechelt Community Archives