Museums

Melville Heritage Museum
History Buffs visiting Melville will certainly want to add the 
Melville Heritage Museum and Melville Railway Museum to their itinerary.

Located at 100 Heritage Drive, the Heritage Museum is one of the oldest buildings in Melville, having begun life in 1913 as the Luther Academy, a boarding school for high school boys of Lutheran faith until it evolved into a nursing home in 1927 and a regional museum in 1983.

The first museum board was formed in 1975 and the City of Melville declared the building a Heritage Site in 1981. The grand opening of the Heritage Museum was held in 1983 in conjunction with the City’s 75th reunion.

The Museum features four levels of exhibits with more than 10,000 artifacts and about 1,000 books. The books include language textbooks in German, English, Greek, Ukrainian and Latin.

The museum is always changing and adding exhibits, as often as every year. Most artifacts are donated, some are purchased, with all being preserved. Short-term loans are also acceptable and the generosity of donors has meant interesting exhibits can be rotated so there are always new items to view.

Main attractions are the chapel, library, railway and military exhibits. In the military room is an extensive exhibit of HMCS Melville features artifacts received from former members of the 1939-45 crew.

There are also more than 100 black and white original photographs on display throughout the museum as well as a vintage 1910 portrait camera.

Other exhibits include a principal’s office – which is restored the way it was used in the beginning.

What is the oldest item in the museum? A volume of German-language sermons, printed in Leipzig in 1721.

The museum’s newest exhibit seeks to bring the viewer a history of sports and recreation, portraying some of the internationally known athletes who have so ably represented Melville.

There is also a gift shop supplied with a choice of 
Saskatchewan-made souvenirs.

Railway Museum
In addition to a Heritage Museum, the City of Melville is also home to the Railway Museum, located in the Melville Regional Park.

The Railway Museum is highlighted by a steam locomotive and a caboose but also has a building containing many 
artifacts from years of railroading in Saskatchewan.

The majority of the exhibits include various pieces of communications equipment, from telegraphs, to telephones. There are also records from the Grand Truck Railway and CNR, including employee records.

The museum became official in 1986 when the City of Melville designated it under the Heritage Act

Tourist Caboose
Canadian National Railways (CNR) van 77295 is located by the Tourism Centre at 76 Halifax Avenue. This caboose or van, as they were known, was built by the Grand Trunk Railway in 1895. When built, this Grand Trunk Railway van was number 90309. It was customary that the van would be the hotel room for the railway crew and would be used until their assignment was completed. In Canada these cars were called “vans”. In the US they were referred to as a “Caboose”.

The caboose was completely restored in the 1980’s and placed here for use as a Tourist Information Centre. With the construction of the new Tourist Centre in 2006, the caboose is now used as a tourist attraction.