E.J. Hughes lived at Shawnigan Lake for over twenty years until he found it too busy and noisy (circa 1970) and moved to Cobble Hill. Hughes' last studio, in a modest house in Duncan, was a spare bedroom, with a table and easel set close to a single north window. He painted there, in the afternoon, six days a week. Sunday was his day off.

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The Last Spike was  ceremoniously placed by Sir John A. Macdonald in 1886, at Cliffside. He used a silver hammer and pounded a gold spike. In 1883, the British Columbia Government appealed to Robert Dunsmuir to build a railway. The 72 miles of track, which was laid starting from the south at Esquimalt and from the north at Nanaimo, met at Mile 25 (Cliffside, Shawnigan Lake).

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Your GO TO SOURCE for information about the Kinsol Trestle at Shawnigan Lake.  Stop by the Museum on your way to/from the Kinsol Trestle to learn it's history. We have two scale models: one 3 foot and one 10 foot!  There are also historical and a time lapse restoration video of the Trestle for your enjoyment.

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