Happy New Year from all of us at Old Hastings Mill Store Museum!
We hope that you are having an enjoyable winter, wherever you happen to be!
It promises to be an exciting year at the museum!
2015 marks the 150th anniversary of Captain Edward Stamp’s Burrard Inlet arrival on a point of land just west of the seasonal First Nation village of Kumkumalay, and his establishment of the B.C. and Vancouver Island Spar, Lumber and Sawmill Company. Of course it took a while for things to get rolling, but we traditionally view 1865 as the year Hastings Mill Store had its earliest beginnings.
Here are a few dates for your calendar:
February 14th – Old Hastings Mill Store Museum opens for the season, 1 – 4 p.m.
February 15th – Our first “Talk and Tea” of the season with Native Daughter and Vancouver author Lisa Anne Smith Old Hastings Mill Store Museum: Portal to Vancouver’s Past. If you are unfamiliar with the history of Hastings Sawmill and Store, this is a good opportunity to learn something of the colourful past.
2 p.m., Entry $5.00, light refreshments to follow.
February 22nd – Music at the Mill. Back by popular demand!
Enjoy old time sea chanties from 1 – 2 p.m. (main floor) and traditional fiddle music upstairs from 2 – 4 p.m.
Please note that the fiddle portion of the program is not wheelchair accessible. Entry by donation.
June 14th – Bergamasca Recorder Ensemble, featuring Baroque music amidst the artifacts. 1 – 4 p.m.
Please note that the museum will only be open on weekends, 1 – 4 p.m. until mid-June.
If you would like to arrange a group tour (10 or more) or are interested in our school program, please call 604-733-9749.
Hope to see you at the Mill!
What Floats to the Top of My Desk 
Can you tell me how Hastings Mill got its name? I am interested in an American photographer with the unusual name of Oregon Columbus Hastings who comes to Victoria and forms a partnership with Stephen A Spencer in the 1880s. He was also said to have lumber interests. Is there any connection? Thank you.
The Hastings Mill gets it’s name from the Hasting townsite which was set aside in the 1860s as the potential settlement site on the south shore of Burrard Inlet. The townsite takes its name from Rear Admiral George Fowler Hastings of the Royal Navy who was from 1866–1869, the commander of the Pacific. The mill was set up by a Captain Edward Stamp.