Merimbula Old School Museum

08/10/2026

A significant exhibit has been added to the Old School Museum at Merimbula with the donation of a commercial fishing…

03/10/2026

🎅 WANTED: A PHOTO OF JACK GRAY & SANTA'S WATER SLEIGH (AKA ALMA)! 🚤📸

Do you remember when Santa arrived in Merimbula aboard Jack Gray's fishing boat, the "Alma"?

I'm putting together a new display at the Merimbula Old School Museum celebrating Jack Gray, his beloved "Alma" and their place in Merimbula's history.

One story I'm particularly keen to capture is Jack's role as Santa's water sleigh taxi, bringing the man in red across the lake to the jetty in front of the Lakeview.

I'm hoping someone out there has a photograph of one of these memorable Christmas arrivals.

📸 Can you help me find one?

Perhaps there's a photograph tucked away in an old family album, or maybe you remember being there as a child. I'd love to hear from you!

Please leave a comment below or email [email protected].

And please SHARE this post! The perfect photograph might be hiding in someone's family collection.

Help me bring this wonderful piece of Merimbula's Christmas history back to life! 🎄

25/09/2026

22/09/2026

Exhibition in development — Building Towns, Making a Living

What did it take to build a community here?

That is one of the questions behind "Building Towns, Making a Living", a new exhibition being developed for the museum.

The story takes us through farms, forests, mines and workshops; along roads and waterways; and into the businesses and industries that helped Merimbula, Pambula and neighbouring settlements grow.

Maize, dairying, timber, gold, blacksmithing, transport and manufacturing all have a place in the story - but so do the people whose labour, ingenuity and enterprise made them possible.

Over coming months, objects from the collection will be brought together with photographs and local stories to give visitors a new look at how people made a living — and made communities.

20/09/2026

Our museum is open online too!

Did you know that a growing selection of the Merimbula Old School Museum's collection can be explored from your own home?

Through our publicly accessible eHive catalogue, objects that might once have only been encountered inside the museum can now be discovered online — along with photographs, descriptions and the stories that give them meaning.

For us, digitising the collection is about much more than creating a catalogue. It means making local history more accessible, helping researchers and family historians discover connections, and sharing the stories of Merimbula, Pambula and the surrounding district far beyond the walls of the museum.

Have a browse — you never know what you might find.

🔎 Explore our collection:
https://ehive.com/collections/202676/merimbula-old-school-museum

11/09/2026

Pambula's wooden water pipe on eHive

At first glance, a wooden water pipe might not seem like a museum treasure.

But this object helps tell an important story about early infrastructure, resourcefulness and the challenges of supplying water to a growing local community.

Recovered during excavations at Pambula, the pipe reminds us that everyday services we now take for granted once depended on practical problem-solving, local labour and materials that were available at the time.

You can explore collection items like this through the Merimbula Old School Museum’s publicly accessible eHive collection.

https://ehive.com/collections/202676/objects/1552106/pambula-water-pipe

09/09/2026

New exhibitions — changing how stories are told

The Merimbula Old School Museum is continuing to think carefully about how local stories are shared with visitors.

New exhibition planning gives us the chance to look again at the objects, photographs and records in the collection — and to ask what stories they can help us tell more clearly.

How did people build homes, make a living, travel, learn, care for one another, celebrate, struggle and adapt in this district?

Every object has the potential to add another layer to the story, just like this cast iron mortar and pestle, used to hand crush ore for sampling and field testing on the Pambula gold fields.

Merimbula Old School Museum, open Thursday & Sunday 1:30 – 4:00
(or groups by appointment).

07/09/2026

Shops, streets and Saturday errands.

Historic street photographs are full of everyday life.

A shopfront, awning, cart, bicycle, dress, hat, sign, verandah post or dusty road can tell us how people moved through town, where they gathered, what they bought and how the streetscape changed.

When we look closely at old photographs of places like Market Street or Quondola Street, we are not just seeing buildings. We are seeing the daily life of a community.

What details do you always look for first in an old town photograph?

Merimbula Old School Museum - open Thursday and Sunday 1:30 – 4:00

05/09/2026

From cream to community, dairying was once part of the everyday rhythm of this district.

Cows had to be milked, cream separated, butter made, boxes packed and produce sent away. The work was physical, regular and closely tied to family life, weather, roads and markets.

Objects connected with local dairying — from butter boxes to creamery material — help us remember an industry that shaped farms, households and community life across the district.

Like this Oakleaf brand butter box used by the Pambula Co-operative Creamery and Dairy Company, they also remind us that local history is often found in the things people worked with every day.

Merimbula Old School Museum, open Thursday and Sunday 1:30 – 4:00

03/09/2026

Two towns, many stories

Merimbula and Pambula have always had their own identities, but their histories are closely connected.

Families, workers, businesses, roads, waterways, schools, farms, churches, shops and industries linked the two towns in countless ways. People moved between them for work, trade, worship, sport, schooling, shopping and social life.

Our museum’s collection helps tell a district story — not just one town in isolation, but a network of places and people that shaped each other over generations.

Merimbula Old School Museum - open Thursday and Sunday 1:30 – 4:00