Overview

The Lacombe & District Historical Society acknowledges that we are living, working, and volunteering in the traditional territories of the ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐤ Nêhiyaw (Cree) people of Treaty 6. We are respectful of the many First Nations, Métis and Inuit people whose footsteps have marked this land for centuries. The Lacombe & District Historical Society (#6288), formerly known as Maski-pitoon Historical Society, was incorporated May 5, 1971. Before officially becoming a Society, the organization met to discuss the purchase of the Grace Methodist parsonage, the birthplace of Governor General Daniel Roland Michener. The purchase of the site occurred in 1972 and the restoration work took 13 years, with the museum officially being opened by Roland Michener himself in May 1984. This heritage site has expanded over the years to include the Learning Garden on the property that explores over 4,000 years of history of the Central Alberta landscape & agricultural development in the region. In 1991, the Society purchased and restored the Lacombe Blacksmith Shop Museum – the oldest operational blacksmith shop in Alberta. Both heritage sites are recognized provincially and municipally and are open to the public with live-heritage demonstrations, special events and guided tours from the Victoria Day weekend through to the September long weekend. Since 2008, the Society has been recognized by the Alberta Museums Association as a Recognized Museum and has maintained year-round permanent staff and volunteers. This has allowed the Lacombe Museums to act as a source of school tours & programming, hosting special events for the community, and having our collection of over 40,000+ items in our archives accessible for researchers. Most recently, the Society is pleased to announce the addition of the Flatiron Building as a new museum and gallery space to our family, which is to be open year round starting in 2022, showcasing rotating heritage exhibits from across the globe.