The Cromwell and Districts Museum forms part of the Cromwell Information Centre complex located in The Mall. It was developed in the 1980’s as part of the Clyde Dam works and bases much of its material on the archaeological work undertaken as part of that project.
It’s all here! The Cromwell and Districts Museum offers you answers to all of these questions and an interesting overview of the area’s history. And it’s a compact museum, so you’ll still have time to venture out and discover the real thing for yourself! It also departs from the traditional rural museum in that it does not house a vast conglomeration of unrelated artefacts and photographs.
Major displays are:
Cromwell Township
Model of part Melmore Terrace pre-lake formation
Through photograph and story, follow the progress of the town from 1862 to the present day. There are also an excellent account of the upheaval caused by the formation of Lake Dunstan, and a detailed model showing how the old business area looked before it was demolished and flooded.
Family Life
Display of kitchen items
How would you like to have lived in Cromwell 100 years ago? Would you have survived?
Gold
Model of Rising Sun Gold Dredge
Cromwell owes its beginnings to the discovery of gold. See the mining methods used, from a simple one-person operation to the really serious gold dredge which was over five stories high!
Chinatown!
Chinese Goldminers Display
Yes, Cromwell had its very own Chinatown right next to the old business district. Learn about the lifestyle of the Chinese, the businesses they established, and even how they got on with the locals.
Pioneer Women
Pioneer Women Display
Who was the hardest worked member of the household? Imagine how harsh the pioneer conditions were. Discover some of the interesting gadgets that were invented to make a women’s life easier!
Sports
“Well, there weren’t no telly back then!”. Did sport play a bigger role in Cromwell’s early days?
Bridges
Bridges - Transport Display
These structures played the most important role behind the discovery of gold in the early development of Cromwell. And most of them had chequered histories! Discover the intriguing stories behind them.
Hotels
How many Nitespots did the bustling town of Cromwell have 100 years ago? Was night life more exciting than it is now? The area once boasted 30 public houses and the museum display features a typical hotel bar of the period. It graphically illustrates both the good and the bad social aspects of the hotels as they were in the 19th and early 20th centuries.