Over the next two years the Pemberton & District Museum and Archives will be trying to complete their pioneer village, fundraising to bring the Pemberton Station School and the John Arn Cabin to the site by 2020.

Tickets for the School House Stomp, a bluegrass and corn roast dinner, are $40 each.

The Pemberton Station School opened in 1929 after the railway was finished in 1915 and the town started to grow. The first teacher who was hired was named Bertha “Bussie” Green. The school was built by volunteers who also donated the supplies needed to finish the building. People like Oscar Johnson and Andy Andersen spent many hours building and financing the school. Bussie was asked to comment about the start of her teaching career in Pemberton and she said that the first day of school was interrupted during the Lord’s Prayer when the guys continued to finish building the school during class. She continued by stating that having no outhouses was a bit of a struggle but having the bushes surrounding the school came in handy.

The John Arn Cabin was built by Robert “Bob” Miller in 1907 after he received a Crown land grant on District Lot 188 on a site not far from the North Bank of Miller Creek. The cabin has been owned by many different people and families over the years. In 1912 the Howe Sound Northern & Development Co. bought the cabin; later James Cavers Gill bought it in 1915, the next year William Godfrey and Alexander Harold Douglas purchased the cabin. That same year James Cavers Gill bought it back as well as 20 acres of land (Lot 7 of D.L.’s 188, 189, & 498).  In 1921 Thomas Manley Mighton purchased the cabin and a relative of his J.C. “Jay” Mighton bought it from him, six years later, in 1927. In 1934 John Arn bought the cabin, which was then named after him. John was a farmer and trapper who arrived in Pemberton after 1914. John worked as a trapper above North and South Creeks, up Donelly Creek and on the Hurley River. John lived there until 1957, and then it is believed he moved into town as a bachelor. The cabin was then sold to A.B. Staehli who bought the land the cabin was on. Staehli later donated the cabin to the school board.

The Museum is fundraising over the next couple years to help pay for the cost for bringing these buildings to the museum.

On September 8th the museum is hosting a School House Stomp Bluegrass & Corn Roast Dinner. Come on by from 6-10pm for live entertainment from the Courageous Mountain Rangers. Tickets are $40. Contact the Museum at 604-894-5504 or info@pembertonmuseum.org, or just drop on by to reserve them now.

To find out more and keep up to date, check out the museum’s Facebook or the events page on their website.