The Musée de Lachine's collections tell the story of our past

Last updated April 13, 2022
Reading time: 1 min

A treasured witness of times past, the Musée de Lachine tells the history of its city with passion and precision. Comprising several thousand objects, the museum’s historical and archaeological collections retrace some 2,500 years of activity on a single Montréal site.

The Musée de Lachine conserves almost 15,000 objects from different types of collections. Each object tells its own part of the story of the Le Ber-Le Moyne historic site and the evolution of Lachine society.

Lachine’s historic past

The museum’s historical collection, with the Le Ber-Le Moyne house as its central element, includes several thousand objects that document Lachine’s rural, industrial and urban history. Two subsets of this vast collection are distinguished by their unique nature and the exceptional quality of their items: the Dawes Black Horse collection and the collection of the Sisters of Saint Anne, the latter acquired in 2017 and 2019.

Prolific archaeological digs

The museum’s archaeological collection is classified as a heritage object. The items included were brought to light during various archaeological digs on the Le Ber-Le Moyne heritage site, listed in the Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec (Québec’s heritage register). It includes a study collection composed of more than 30,000 artifacts and biofacts, of which nearly 900 are included in the museum’s permanent collection.

These fragments reflect nearly 2,500 years of human activity that took place on the site.

Researchers wishing to learn more about the collection can consult the Artefacts Canada databases.

Did you know?

In 2021, the city returned a ceremonial hood to the Cree Nation from the Musée de Lachine’s collection.

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