The Qualicum Beach Historical and Museum Society started out as a grassroots movement in 1982 and was incorporated under the Society Act of British Columbia on March 29, 1984.
The museum collects, preserves, researches, interprets and displays the natural and social history of Qualicum Beach. Through exhibits, visitors can learn about the local history, including the Qualicum First Nation’s culture and language resiliency, and the town’s growth, stemming from industries like logging, fishing and tourism.
One highlight of the museum is the grand mural by local artists covering three walls of the second-floor galleries, depicting the early days of Qualicum. Additionally, the museum cares for an extensive archive of local historical documents and photographs. The museum also houses one of the finest collections of fossils in Western Canada, consisting primarily of fossils found in British Columbia. The paleontology exhibit was assembled and curated by the internationally known fossil collector and researcher, Graham Beard, in collaboration with the Vancouver Island Paleontological Museum Society.