Donalda & District Museum 2.36

Donalda & District Museum is home to the world's largest museum-housed collection of oil-burning lamps. A local couple, Beth & Don Lawson began collecting oil-burning lamps in 1939. When they were ready to retire in 1979, they offered the then 500-lamp collection to the Village of Donalda, on the condition that a museum be built to house it. The present building was erected in 1979-1980, with the Donalda & District Museum Society organized the next year to manage the collection and administer the museum. Today, years after the Lawson's offer, both donations and other purchases have increased the collection to over 1,000 lamps.
The museum is comprised of five buildings: the main building houses the lamp collection, the library, and the village office. the Imperial Bank of Canada building, houses the public art gallery. Across Railway Street is a railroad station containing original signals, and nearby, the World's Largest Lamp. Down Foster Street, west from the station, is the 1920's Donalda Co-operative Creamery building, home of the award-winning Donalda Maid Butter.
Besides lamps, the museum has hundreds of farming and household items that once belonged to the local pioneers. there are also examples of the beautiful bead work done by local metis lady, Peggy Whitford, and a collection of arrowheads, stone hammers, and natural history artifacts.