There’s really nothing out in Abbotsford, but there is a lot to see in the tiny village of Clayburn. I came across this town while I was searching for ghost towns to visit, but to my disappointment (and surprise) there were actually people living there. The first thing I did when I got there was to look for parking, there was a little parking lot by the side of a large house but it was being used for wedding photos so I drove around to the back. When I finally found a narrow gap to squeeze through and park in the back yard of a house I found out that it was actually a cozy museum. (By the way, don’t just park in someone’s back yard, I only did so because I thought I saw a commercial sign out front.)
Clayburn bricks
At first glance, there’s nothing remarkable about this place, but a closer look reveals that many of the houses in the community are well over 100 years old and all of them have a story to tell. The kind volunteers at the Clayburn Village Museum told me all about the history of Clayburn being the first company town in BC. The town used to produce bricks for buildings and exported them all over the world. I was told that they were the best bricks in Canada at the time!
Schoolhouse with original artefacts
The museum houses artefacts from the town’s residents as well as displaying its industrial past. There is a huge scale model of what the town used to look like back in its industrial heyday with explanations on how the brick manufacturing process worked. My favorite exhibit was the recreated classroom complete with original desks and black slates from the former schoolhouse the museum is now located in. If you’re old enough, it may bring back a few memories.
In a large institutionalised museum, you would be prohibited from touching any of the exhibits, but in the Clayburn Village Museum the curators encourage you to be hands on (albeit very delicately) with the exhibits to understand how people lived without modern technology. If you see a crank with gears and spinning blades, try and guess what it is.
Candy shop in general store
The museum is open from 1pm-4pm on Saturdays only from June to August. and Clayburn is about 90 minutes away from Vancouver by car. I wish they opened more often, but if you’re not in on Saturday you can always visit the historical general store that is now home to a beautiful candy shop and a charming little tea house inside.
