The Hidden Treasures database project was funded by the British Columbia’s Digital Collections Program. The Vancouver Maritime Museum acknowledges the support of the British Columbia Arts Council and the British Columbia Museums Association.

The Vancouver Maritime Museum is one of the Vancouver region's top attractions. Our mission is to enrich lives and inspire a sense of wonder about our interaction with the sea. We collect artifacts to preserve important treasures and every-day objects that speak volumes about the people who created, used and drew inspiration from them. Their stories form the basis of the fun, hands-on learning that happens in the museum's exhibits and programs.

What are these artifacts? They range from a worker's boots to exquisitely crafted, invaluable treasures. They include original manuscripts, rare books, and over a hundred thousand images. Collectively, they tell the story of our region's long-standing interaction with the sea and the rivers that flow to meet it.

The treasures include equipment and machinery like lighthouse lenses, steam engines and early 20th century outboard motors. They include navigational instruments, fishing gear, the personal effects of sailors, immigrants who came by sea, and waterfront workers. They include artifacts recovered from the depths from shipwrecks, archaeological traces of past tragedies, and relics from ships famous and lesser known but once commonplace and thus as important as representative of what we were, what we did, and who we are as a result.

The Museum's fine arts include the largest collection of marine and nautical art of any museum in Canada, including works by nationally and internationally artists like Emily Carr, Montague Dawson, E.J. Hughes, and Robert Bateman. The Museum's internationally renowned W B and M H Chung Library holds a unique collection of over 20,000 books, thousands of periodicals, and hundreds of thousands of ephemera, manuscripts and photographs and images of British Columbia communities, coastal life, ships, maritime activities, and port scenes.

We are indeed fortunate to be able to share some of our treasures with you. Treasures that speak to our diverse and significant holdings, all preserved for public enjoyment and learning for present and future generations. We hope you enjoy your visit.

Enter the Hidden Treasures database!