The Heritage Site
Experience Abbotsford’s past
Step into the past with us – see 1920s artifacts from around Abbotsford. Hear stories from the House, and from the local community. Learn about the history of the city and inhabitants of the City in the Country.
EXPERIENCE TRETHEWEY HOUSE
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Built by J.O. Trethewey (owner of the Abbotsford Lumber Company) in 1919-1920 near Mill Lake, Trethewey House is a craftsman-style 1920s house museum operated by the Heritage Abbotsford Society.
For more information about our school programs please contact us.
Things to do in Abbotsford?
Drop In Tours
We welcome groups of all ages to come and tour the Trethewey House Heritage Site.
Small Groups (1-4 people)
Drop-in guided tours of Trethewey House are available for groups of four visitors or less. Tours are offered in the afternoon between 1-4 PM, Monday through Friday.
Large Groups (5+ people)
Scheduled tours are available for groups consisting of five or more people and must be booked a minimum of two weeks in advance of the desired tour date.
To schedule a group tour, please use the form below or contact us by phone at 604-853-0313.
How much do group tours cost?
Tours cost $5 per visitor ($3 seniors) and can be scheduled during our regular tour hours, between 1-4PM, Monday through Friday.
Book A Tour
BOOK A GROUP (5+) TOUR
Thank you for your interest in booking a tour program from Heritage Abbotsford Society. Please complete the following form and we will be in touch to confirm details and prepare an invoice. Payment can be cheque, cash, or card. Cost for group tours is $5.00 per attendee ($3.00 for Indigenous members and seniors).
Please note: If payment is not received fourteen (14) days in advance of tour booking, the booking will be subject to cancellation at the museum’s discretion. Refunds will not be given for cancellations less than seven (7) business days before the scheduled tour.
FIELD TRIPS
Field trips to Trethewey House Heritage Site are approximately 90 minutes long and consist of two 45-minute programs of your choice from the selections below. When classes arrive, students are split into two groups in order to make the experience and trip to the Heritage Site more personable and catered to individual student interests and class needs (and to help us be in accordance with load capacity in Trethewey House). Each group completes one program and then switches programs at the 45-minute mark. For more information please see our FAQ below.
Payment and form submission is due two weeks prior to the program. Failure to submit payment and/or completed booking forms may result in the cancellation of the booking.
READY TO BOOK?
Fill out the form below and our Programs Manager will contact you to confirm the date, time and details of your program, along with payment details.
School Programs
PROGRAM DURATION: 2 HOURS | FIELD TRIPS: $5 PER PARTICIPANT | SUPERVISING TEACHERS AND CHAPERONES: FREE
Our School Program is guided by our friendly and knowledgeable staff and volunteers and includes three stations through which students rotate. These stations include:
1
HERITAGE HOUSE TOUR
TRETHEWEY HOUSE
Take a journey with us back into the 1920s as we explore Trethewey House. This guided tour explains Arts & Crafts architecture in a fun and age-appropriate way and discusses how people lived and worked in early 20th-century Abbotsford.
Duration: 30 minutes
2
HERITAGE GALLERY
THE RIVER PEOPLE AND THE LAND: LIVING WITHIN S’ÓLH TÉMÉXW
The Stó:lō people live along the Fraser River, and have a rich history with the land. The River People and the Land: Living within S’ólh Téméxw exhibit showcases the relationship between people, the land, and what is essential for the survival of human beings. But what would you do without your land, your home?
Duration: 30 minutes
3
UPPER SUMAS TRAIN STATION
BC ELECTRIC RAILWAY IN THE FRASER VALLEY
Learn more about agriculture and transportation in early 20th century Abbotsford through our restored 1910s BC Electric Train Station. Watch archival footage of historic trains travelling the Chilliwack line while our interpreter explains the importance of the BC Electric to Dairy Farmers and Travelers alike.
Duration: 15 minutes
4
SEASONAL ELEMENT
GARDEN TOUR/BEHIND THE SCENES
Sylvia Pincott Heritage Habitat Garden Tour
May-August
Learn about the importance of native plants and the interconnectedness of bugs, blooms, and animals in a walk through our Heritage Habitat Garden.
Behind the Scenes at Joey’s Playhouse
August-April
Take a peek behind the scenes and discover the work we do at the museum. Learn how we identify belongings, how we care for them, and see examples of ongoing conservation and restoration work.
Duration: 15 minutes
Abbotsford: From Many Villages to City - OUTREACH PROGRAM
The Abbotsford – From Many Villages to City Outreach Program has been aligned with BC’s New Curriculum.
$50 / 1 HOUR SESSION
What makes Abbotsford unique? With this program students will learn about how Abbotsford has grown from the geographically scattered thirteen villages into the large City of Abbotsford today. The program details the colourful stories of the streets, buildings and the characters from all around the world who have called the area home. Students will be given the opportunity to handle artifacts and view pictures from days past and get to explore how communities grow in a healthy way.
Maximum one class per booking (approximately 25-30 students).
Please Note: Abbotsford – From Many Villages to City is a standalone program and cannot be combined with other program offerings. This program takes place in your classroom, not at Trethewey House Heritage Site. Outreach programs can not be booked with a workshop or tour component. Maximum one class per booking (approximately 25-30 students).
Recommended Grades 1-3.
Duration: 1 hour
This program was previously known as “Train Whistles and School Bells”
BOOK AN EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM
Thank you for your interest in booking an educational program from Heritage Abbotsford Society. Please complete the following form and we will be in touch to confirm details and prepare an invoice. Payment can be cheque, cash, or card. Cost for group tours is $5.00 per participant or free for Indigenous students. All supervising teachers and chaperones are free.
If payment is not received fourteen (14) days in advance of tour booking, the booking will be subject to cancellation at the museum’s discretion. Refunds will not be given for cancellations less than seven (7) business days before the scheduled tour.
Want to casually learn about Abbotsford’s history at your own pace?
Why not learn about Trethewey House Heritage Site and the history of Mill Lake Park through missions on the Agents of DiscoveryTM app! Agents of Discovery is an educational platform game which allows those of all ages to get out, move and uncover information about the area’s history through a series of challenges, games and questions that can be solved on their own devices. Visitors must be present on the Heritage Site to complete Agents of Discovery missions as the app uses GPS coordinates.
Heritage Abbotsford Society is proud to currently have two missions available to the public:
- Trethewey House Heritage Site mission (location: house and grounds of Trethewey House Heritage Site)
- Mill Lake Walking Tour mission (location: throughout Mill Lake Park)
To download the FREE Agents of Discovery app for your device, please visit Agents of Discovery, Google Play or the Apple Store
UPDATE – MARCH 2018: Agents of Discovery and Heritage Abbotsford Society have won a Heritage BC Recognition Award for Education and Awareness! CLICK HERE FOR PRESS RELEASE
faq
Frequently Asked Questions
We are located near Mill Lake at 2313 Ware Street with access to the museum parking lot off of Alta Avenue.
There is parking, and yes it is free! If arriving by passenger vehicle, please park in the free museum parking lot off of Alta Avenue. If arriving by bus, please park the bus on the street and have your group walk through the parking lot to the Heritage Site.
Please assemble all students and program participants on the cement pad between Trethewey House and the Heritage Gallery and ring the buzzer by the office door to let us know you have arrived. We request that teachers divide their students into two equal groups and ensure that there are enough chaperones for both groups.
If the number of students attending the program changes before the booking date, please contact us. The final number of students will be confirmed onsite at Trethewey House before the start of the program. Payment for all students must be received before the start of the program.
We recommend that each school class has a minimum of four chaperones (two for each group once the class is divided in half) to a maximum of eight chaperones total for load capacity reasons.
We tailor each tour to the age of the class group. For that reason, we do not permit any kids or siblings not enrolled in the class to accompany school tours.
It is possible to leave the tour while it is in progress, but please note that anyone needing to step away from the group temporarily must be accompanied by a chaperone in order to be let back into Trethewey House as the building will be locked from the outside for security purposes.
We are located next to the Mill Lake trail loop, which loops around the entirety of Mill Lake and around which there are playgrounds and a lot of local fauna and wildlife. We are neighbours with the Abbotsford Arts Council and are located a walking distance (1.0 km) away from the Gur Sikh Temple. The Reach Gallery Museum (2.7 km) and the Mennonite Heritage Museum (3.6 km) are also nearby.
If you need to reschedule or cancel a program for any reason, please contact us. Please note that payments for cancelled programs will not be refunded.
Contact Us
2313 Ware Street, Abbotsford, BC V2S3C6
Acknowledgement
The Heritage Abbotsford Society acknowledges that we are situated on the traditional, ancestral, unceded, and shared territory of the Semá:th and Máthekwi People who have lived in S’ólh Téméxw since time immemorial.