Plan Your Visit

Welcome to
Kilby Historic Site!

We encourage you to take a few moments to browse through our website and discover this unique BC Heritage site in Harrison Mills. We are nestled against the mountains on the north shore of the Fraser River, in the Fraser Valley, just 90 minutes from the hustle and bustle of Greater Vancouver.

The Kilby Historic Site prides itself in portraying the living history of the Kilby family, general store, and farm. The grounds surrounding the general store are approximately 3 hectares which we have preserved as the working farm it once was, the Waterloo Farm Museum. Today, we annually stock the farm with a wonderful variety of animals. Visitors of all ages can interact with and feed the animals on the farm while they are learning about rural farm life.

Stepping through the front door of the general store will transport you back in time to Harrison Mills in the early 1900s as you are surrounded by original merchandise and greeted by costumed interpreters. The Kilby General Store was officially opened on August 14th, 1906, by Thomas and Eliza Kilby. The general store became the heart of the bustling mill town of Harrison Mills, supporting a lively population of mill workers, rail workers, and their families during the community’s heyday. Thomas and Eliza’s son, Acton, took over store operations in 1922 and ran it with his wife, Jessie, until 1972 when it was purchased by the Province of British Columbia as a historic site. Acton and Jessie were the museum’s first curators. The general store still bears the effects of their hard work and maintains its original character. The main floor of the museum also features the community post office and the family’s living area.

You will be pleasantly surprised with the preservation of the only remaining buildings of a once-thriving mill town from the turn of the last century. Whether you are visiting the shopkeeper in the general store or having a conversation with the farmhand, you will experience firsthand just how life was in the early 1900s in rural British Columbia.

Reflect back on a time you lived through, reminisce of days gone by, or learn of a lifestyle that is hard to comprehend in today’s fast-paced age of technology. The past comes alive in the common household objects we now call artifacts. Whether you are entering the General Store or petting one of the farm animals you will connect to the past and embrace the pioneering spirit we strive to convey.