Warrandyte :Pictorial Heritage 1839-2010, Warrandyte Museum

Museum
Historical Society
Soundscapes Trail

Warrandyte Museum and Historical Society

Warrandyte is almost unique in its maintenance of the identity of the village that emerged from the original mining settlement. Ongoing preservation of Warrandyte's history is an essential community activity. The Warrandyte Historical Society, established 1976, is a small band of volunteers dedicated to preserving and displaying the history of Warrandyte.

The Society's activities centre around the heritage listed Museum, at 111 Yarra St.

It's mission is:

To collect, catalogue, preserve and present the ongoing history of Warrandyte (past and present) focusing on the main themes of:

Gold
Art
Indigenous history
Social history

These activities include:
Collating, cataloging and archiving historical records (text and image) in a manner consistent with established historical archives acquisition and disposal policy
Capturing the memories of our more senior citizens using audio recording (to be subsequently transcribed to text)
Encouraging current residents of and those with connections to Warrandyte to share their historical infomation
Offering a resource for the support of and encouragement of research into Warrandyte's history

The main resource is the dedication of volunteer members and the subscriptions of a wider membership, occasionally subsidized by grants.

The Museum bui8lding was built around 1875 and posssibly used as a store, and the first Post Office started there in 1889. The first telephone exchange was installed there in 1912. The Post Office closed down in 1972, when it moved to its present site at 210Yarra St.
A lessed was grahted to the Lions Cloub in 1974, which maintyained it until 1980.

It remained derelict for several years, and a demolition order was issued in 1979 due to the dilapidated state of the building.

In 1982, fire severely damged the building, and in 1985 a Planning Permit was issued for restoration, and it opened in 1988.

See the printed publication : "The Historic Post Office at Warrandyte 1878-1988", by Bruce Bence, 1989, ISBN 0 9587495 0 7,available from the Warrandyte Historical Society)

Warrandyte Gold Soundscapes Trail

A new way to explore the history of Warrandyte.

Six sound posts in Warrandyte provide commentaries about the history of the local area.

Each post is designed to develop an indivdual theme and they are to found at the following locations.

Warrandyte Historical Society Museum

First official discovery of gold in Victoria
History of the post office building

Whipstick Gully

The Victory and Whipstick Gully mines
Traditional goldmining techniques
How to pan for goldWhipstick Gully - sights and sounds in the 1890s

Warrandyte Village

Warrandyte Heritage
'With a swag upon my shoulder' sung by children from Warrandyte Primary School
Warrandyte painters
The 1939 bushfires - Bill McCullock remembers

Warrandyte Mechanics Institute

The early hotels
Story of the Warrandyte Mechanics Institute
From this viewpoint - in the 1890s

Federation Playground

'Look out below' sung by children from Andersons Creek Primary School
Panning for gold
Crushing the quartz
Playing the steam organ

The Stonehouse

The Stonehouse building - Daisy & Violet
'The Caledonia Mine' and the 'Diorite Dyke'
A real miner's story (Bill Hartrick)
Warrandyte's potters

Warrandyte Mechanics Institute

The early hotels
Story of the Warrandyte Mechanics Institute
From this viewpoint - in the 1890s

Follow the trail and listen to the stories and sounds at the six posts or just stop at one or two listening posts to learn about the township's struggling pioneers, its goldmining past and its artistic heritage.