Research in the Archives

Unlock Trail’s History

Explore records, photographs & historical documents preserving Trail’s history.

The Trail Museum & Archives provides researchers, historians, genealogists, and the public with access to extensive archival collections documenting the people, industries, organizations, and events that have shaped the community. Browse digitized resources, book an appointment in the Research Room, learn about research services and fees, or discover unique collections that bring Trail’s history to life.

Contact Us

Trail Museum & Archives

Research Hours

  • Monday to Friday: 10:00 am – 4:30 pm

  • Closed weekends and statutory holidays.

Collections

Housing over 80 linear feet of textual, photographic, and moving images records, the archival collection is growing annually. The archival collections enjoy protection from environmental contaminants and climate control measures are actively monitored. The following popular collections are examples of fonds available for research:

  • West Kootenay Power & Light Co. Fonds (some restrictions apply)
  • Cristoforo Colombo Lodge Fonds
  • Trail Daily Times Photographic Negatives – 1968-1998
  • Trail Times Microfilm – 1895-2022 (originals no longer available for public viewing)
  • Teck Photograph Collection (some restrictions apply)
  • Cominco Magazines and other company-related publications
  • Italo-Canadese Fonds
  • Trail Arts Council Fonds
  • Trail Family Histories
  • Extensive Trail Smoke Eater records
  • Fire Insurance Plans
  • James “Jimmy” Schofield WWI Letters
  • DB Merry WWI Letters
  • Extensive Special Library Collection

  • Over 25,000 archival photographs available online through our partnership with UBC Okanagan and the BC Regional Digitized History available here

  • Digitized Trail Times available online through our partnership with UBC Okanagan and BC Regional Digitized History available here

  • Digitized Cominco Magazines available online through our partnership with UBC Okanagan and BC Regional Digitized History available here

Research Room

The Research Room, located on the second floor and overlooking Bay Avenue, is available to researchers of the archival collections. Research may be conducted Monday to Friday, 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM. To make an appointment, please contact the Collections Coordinator at 250-364-0856 or email collections@trail.ca.

Research Room Policies

  • Appointments are required, with at least 48 hours of advance notice of both appointment time and subject matter.
  • Researchers must sign out all material provided for viewing.
  • Researchers may not remove any items from the Research Room.
  • The Collections Coordinator will supervise the use of all material in the collections.
  • White cotton gloves may be required when handling archival records. We are happy to provide these.
  • No food or beverages are permitted in the Research Room.
  • Only pencils (no ink) are permitted for use in the Research Room when handling archival records.
  • Public access to the archival vault is strictly prohibited.
  • Some restrictions apply to certain fonds within the collection and may limit accessibility to certain files and/or documents.

Research, copy, rental & use fees

Per Council Fee Bylaw 2849, 2018, the following fees are in effect:

Photocopies

Photocopies from textual records, photographs, newspapers

8.5” x 11” and 8.5 x 14”

$0.25/page

11” x 17”

$0.50/page

Photographic Reproduction Charges

For Digital Files

(Scanned from negative, photographic print, textual document, or 35 mm transparency)

Standard Resolution

300 dpi @ 8” x 10” digital file     (.jpg)

$12.00 per image

Standard Resolution

Custom high resolution dpi (.tiff or.jpg digital file)

$12.00 per image

For Prints

(Scanned from negative, photographic print, textual document or 35 mm transparency)

Print from Scan

8” x 10” photographic reprint

$12.00 per image

11” x 14” photographic reprint

$60.00 per image

16” x 20” photographic reprint

$100.00 per image

To avoid additional fees, bring your own flash drive to scan PDFs of articles you require.

Staff Conducted Research

$30.00/hour after first 10 minutes

Use Fees

$10.00 per image when intended for commercial publication, website, merchandise). All requests for use of images or documents for purposes other than personal research must be accompanied by the Permission for Use Application.

Film Digitization/Film Reproduction

Actual production cost plus research fee. Trail Museum & Archives accepts cash, MasterCard, Visa, American Express, debit card, and cheques. Invoices for all services available upon request.

Conference Room Rental

The second-floor Conference Room in the Trail Riverfront Centre is rentable by local non-profit organizations to conduct meetings. Room rental is $25.00 per hour (plus GST), with the use of a Smart Board or OWL video conferencing device. If your organization is looking to rent this space, please contact the Museum Manager at 250-364-0829 or museum@trail.ca to schedule a booking and arrange for payment.