Gem of the West Museum Society

Gem of the West Museum Society Non-profit Society which operates Coaldale's museum and Scotiabank Art Gallery. Dedicated to the preservation of Coaldale and district history and heritage.

The Gem of the West is sealing a time capsule in October, in celebration of 25 years of being an operating museum! 🎉In t...
08/12/2026

The Gem of the West is sealing a time capsule in October, in celebration of 25 years of being an operating museum! 🎉

In the comments or in person, please share a memory you have of the Gem! These will be added to the capsule which will be opened in 25 years.

Whether it be a memory of an old exhibit you enjoyed, a memorable event that the museum held, or something else, we would love to have you share your story with us 🩷

If you have lots to say or perhaps old photos you want to provide, please come visit us! We are open from 9-4 on Monday-Friday, and 10-4 on Saturday.

08/08/2026

After you see the Summerfest parade, don't miss out on everything else the town has to offer today!

Booths like ours are set up in the civic building, and food trucks and other activities are waiting outdoors!

The Great History Challenge is waiting - come give it a try!

08/07/2026

This might be all to familiar to some of you ... and people still use this item very frequently today, it just looks a little different!

Give it your best guess!

Catch us tomorrow at Coaldale's Summerfest! We will be in the civic building downtown, so stick around after the parade. Our booth has something for everyone!

We will also be collecting museum stories to place into our time capsule, which will be sealed during our 25th anniversary event in October. Stay tuned for updates about that!

Learn something new today,
-The Gem of the West

Today and tomorrow (Aug 5 and 6) we have regular hours this week, but we will be closing early on Friday due to a privat...
08/05/2026

Today and tomorrow (Aug 5 and 6) we have regular hours this week, but we will be closing early on Friday due to a private event. Then the museum will be closed on Saturday, but you can catch the staff and volunteer board at Coaldale's Summerfest!

We will be collecting museum memories for our time capsule, so if you feel comfortable sharing a memory with us, our booth will have the opportunity for you to do so!

History is calling,
-The Gem of the West

08/04/2026

Michelle Kimura's artwork is currently featured at the Gem of the West, but time is ticking down! At the end of September, she is removing her pieces from our gallery. Come see her work before it's too late!

michellekimuraphotography

08/01/2026

Not all history can be physically preserved or restored. This makes it extra important to share stories with each other! Keep history alive by talking about it!

Thank you for reading, and please learn something new today!

07/31/2026

Give it your best guess! This one is relatively easy, but I have some more challenging ones in store!

We were planning to have a 'Guess the Artifact' section in our Summerfest booth, but we had to forgo it to make room for different activities. So I'll be posting our artifacts digitally instead!

Teaching history - one story at a time.

07/30/2026

Coaldale' Summerfest event is coming up, and we wouldn't miss it for the world! 💎

The Summerfest theme this year is "Honouring our Past, Building our Future" which is exactly what we aim to do here at the museum. Our booth will be downtown in the civic building, so make sure you stop by! Whether you are an archeologist at heart, have a knack for maps, or are wanting to test out your typing skills on a typewriter, the Gem of the West has something for you!

We will also be collecting typed and hand-written submissions to .... Our Time Capsule!

Be a part of our legacy and turn in a memory you have of the museum. We are accepting time capsule submissions until the capsule is sealed in October.

Why are we collecting museum memories? Why are we building a time capsule? 🤔

Because we are having a 25th Anniversary event! 🎉

The Gem opened back in 2001. Because the museum is officially old enough to rent a car, we figured it was time to celebrate!

Follow along for updates about our 25th anniversary where we will celebrate culture and community.

Thank you for reading!

07/29/2026

Some of our dishes are on display in the main floor of our musuem, but many others are safely tucked away in our storage room!

Over the past few days I have been accessioning some of these dishes. Today was a busy day so these three were all I had time for. Still, they are now in our museum database, and officially marked with artifact numbers!

Stay tuned for an announcement tomorrow about upcoming museum events!

07/28/2026

While the Gem of the West has many artifacts on display, we also have collection storage for artifacts that we have not found a place for just yet. This includes the upstairs balcony of the museum and a cold storage building!

Many artifacts were donated to the Gem in its early years, and the museum was swamped with generosity. Every item donated to our collection tells a piece of Coaldale's story. Over time many of these artifacts have been accessioned and displayed. Some have been donated to other museums as well, as part of our deaccessioning process if we have no exhibit for it, and are not planning on making an exhibit for a particular artifact in the foreseeable future.

Let me know in the comments if you know what our artifact in amber is!

Address

1316 20 Street
Coaldale, AB
T1M1M4

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 4pm
Tuesday 9am - 4pm
Wednesday 9am - 4pm
Thursday 9am - 4pm
Friday 9am - 4pm
Saturday 10am - 4pm

Telephone

+14033451377

Website

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