Reynolds-Alberta Museum


The Reynolds-Alberta Museum, in Wetaskiwin, Alberta, Canada is one of 21 provincially owned and operated historic sites and museums. It traces the mechanization of Alberta's transportation, aviation, agricultural, and industrial past from the 1890s to present, as cars and trucks replaced horse-drawn buggies and wagons, huge factories replaced the village blacksmith shop, and mechanized equipment replaced animal and human-powered farm implements.
The Main Gallery is designed as a "highway through time", beginning with a horse-drawn carriage of the late 19th century and featuring four stations; a 1911 factory, a 1920s grain elevator, a 1930s service station, and a 1950s drive-in.
Featured artifacts include:
The Museum also serves as home to Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame.
The museum is located in the city of Wetaskiwin on Highway 13, near the Wetaskiwin airport. The street address is 6426 40 Avenue, Wetaskiwin.

History

The Reynolds-Alberta Museum opened in 1992 as a project of Alberta Community Development and Alberta Infrastructure. It is named for Stan Reynolds, a Wetaskiwin businessman and collector. Before his death in 2012, Reynolds donated 1500 artifacts to the museum. Stan had owned a local car dealership and always advertised that he would take anything in trade - therefore the large and varied collection of vehicles, airplanes and farm implements.
The museum spaces include a restaurant, meeting rooms, exhibition display areas, 120 seat theatre, museum store, Resource Centre, Restoration Shop and Conservation Lab. The museum's 232-acre site includes farming fields, industrial equipment display, tour road, Aviation Display Hangar, collection storage facility, and fly-in access from the Wetaskiwin Airport. A private company operates a 1940 WACO open cockpit biplane which offers rides.
In the early 2000s, several vehicles from the Reynolds-Alberta Museum were displayed at the Powerama Motoring Expo in Edmonton.