Port Macquarie Museum

Port Macquarie Museum Discover the people, places and stories that have shaped Port. Our Place. Our Stories.

Port Macquarie Museum offers an authentic connection to Port Macquarie's past and is a must-visit attraction for history lovers, cultural travellers, families and curious visitors of all ages. Port Macquarie Museum is an award-winning local history museum in the heart of Port Macquarie, NSW. Discover the people, places and stories that have shaped our town through engaging exhibitions, fascinating

collections and one of Port Macquarie’s most significant heritage sites. Located in Port Macquarie’s earliest surviving commercial building, dating from c1830, the Museum offers an authentic connection to the town’s past and is a must-visit attraction for history lovers, cultural travellers, families and curious visitors of all ages. Explore local stories, discover surprising objects and experience more than you expect at Port Macquarie Museum.

Picture from the PastDriveway Service, September 1971Esso hostesses Annette Hayes and Denise Heath attend to a customer’...
03/09/2026

Picture from the Past
Driveway Service, September 1971
Esso hostesses Annette Hayes and Denise Heath attend to a customer’s car at Port Macquarie’s new Esso Servicecentre, which opened on Thursday 2 September 1971 at the corner of Gordon and Horton Streets.

Managed by Nev Hall, it was Port Macquarie’s 16th service station and was described at the time as an "attractive and most modern building". The Service station also boasted the first fully automatic car wash in northern New South Wales. A complete wash and wax took just four minutes - and cost $1.00.

This photograph captures a time when service stations were rapidly becoming part of Port Macquarie’s changing streetscape, car ownership was reshaping everyday life, and the once-familiar driveway service was still part of the experience.
Source: Port Macquarie News, Thursday 2 September 1971, p22 and Photograph PMM_NEWS-1-72-054, Port Macquarie Museum collection.

Object StoriesAustralia Service Medal 1939-45 awarded to Warwick St Clair [1922-1991] for his service during World War 2...
01/09/2026

Object Stories
Australia Service Medal 1939-45 awarded to Warwick St Clair [1922-1991] for his service during World War 2. Warwick joined the Merchant Navy as a radio operator in January 1942. Just two months later, the SS Hertford he was serving on was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine in the North Atlantic.

Warwick was rescued and hospitalised in Nova Scotia, with frostbite. He later wrote to his parents: '...We spent three days in a lifeboat in the North Atlantic, and although it was spring, I never want to feel so cold again in a life time...'

After leaving hospital, Warwick joined the SS Port Nicholson. Remarkably, just three days later, that ship too was lost to enemy action. Warwick St Clair continued his wartime service as a radio operator with the US Army Small Ships Section in Papua New Guinea and on other merchant vessels.

After the war Warwick St Clair returned to Port Macquarie where he established a business and served as an Alderman on Port Macquarie Municipal Council.

Today, Warwick's medal in the Port Macquarie Museum collection, connects us with the often overlooked wartime service of Australia's merchant mariners, who carried troops and vital supplies through dangerous waters under constant threat of enemy attack. Our place. Our stories.

Picture from the PastFootpath Work, August 1971Port Macquarie Municipal Council's footpath paving program underway in th...
27/08/2026

Picture from the Past
Footpath Work, August 1971
Port Macquarie Municipal Council's footpath paving program underway in the West Port Macquarie area. Kerbs and gutters were also installed with much of the paving. It was reported home-owners were appreciative of Council's work and the resulting beautification of streets and home frontages.

It’s easy to take footpaths, kerbs and gutters for granted, but in 1971 these improvements were changing the look and feel of Port Macquarie neighbourhoods, something that local residents noticed and valued.
Source: Port Macquarie News, 30 August 1971, p5 and Photograph PMM_NEWS-1-73_050, Port Macquarie Museum collection.

Object StoriesA small piece of needlework connecting us with a Port Macquarie childhood more than 160 years ago. In 1864...
25/08/2026

Object Stories
A small piece of needlework connecting us with a Port Macquarie childhood more than 160 years ago. In 1864, ten-year-old Jane Mary Blair [1854–1956] carefully stitched this sampler while receiving her education in Port Macquarie. Worked in cross stitch on loose-weave linen, it features upper and lower alphabets, decorative borders and the words “Jane Mary Blair aged 10 years.”

Its simple design tells us something about the education of girls in the 19th century. Learning to stitch letters was a practical skill, enabling women and girls to mark and embroider household linens for identification when laundering. Needlework was considered an essential part of a girl’s education.

Jane became a skilled dressmaker and continued sewing on a large scale until her marriage to William Dudley Nunn in 1889. She treasured this childhood sampler throughout her extraordinarily long life. In 1954, aged 100, Jane became Port Macquarie’s first locally born centenarian resident.

Today, her sampler survives in the Port Macquarie Museum collection — a personal connection to a local ten-year-old girl learning her stitches at Port Macquarie during the 1860s. Our place. Our stories.

Port Macquarie Primary School's 74-member orchestra, August 1971. Pupils gave three evening performances to mark Educati...
20/08/2026

Port Macquarie Primary School's 74-member orchestra, August 1971. Pupils gave three evening performances to mark Education Week, playing extracts from the juvenile operetta 'Cowboys and Indians'. Mrs Pattie Johnson was the conductor with Mrs Wass at the piano. Were you there?
Port Macquarie Museum helping you to discover or reconnect with the people, places and stories that have shaped Port.

Object StoriesThis small oval silver medal was awarded to Port Macquarie resident George William Edwards [1856-1939] for...
18/08/2026

Object Stories
This small oval silver medal was awarded to Port Macquarie resident George William Edwards [1856-1939] for his collection of foreign stamps exhibited at the Port Macquarie and District Agricultural and Horticultural Society Show , held 2 and 3 March 1887. The event was Port Macquarie's third agricultural show and had been postponed due to floods.

The medal features an ornate suspension loop and cast images reflecting the agricultural character of the show, including a horse, cow and sheep, together with a plough, rake, shovel and scythe.

The recipient, George Edwards, was born at Port Macquarie and went on to play an important role in the town's civic history. Just three months after the show he became the municipality's first Town Clerk, remaining in the role until his retirement in 1928.

This medal provides a tangible connection to Port Macquarie's early agricultural shows, community life and the story of a local man who went on to serve the municipality for over 40 years.

This medal is preserved in the Port Macquarie Museum collection, where objects such as this help us share the stories and cultural heritage of Port Macquarie and the Hastings region, NSW.

Wow! We’re proud to be recognised as a finalist in the Excellence in Sustainable Tourism category of the 2026 Business N...
16/08/2026

Wow! We’re proud to be recognised as a finalist in the Excellence in Sustainable Tourism category of the 2026 Business NSW Mid North Coast Business Awards, alongside our friends from , and other outstanding finalists.

At Port Macquarie Museum, responsibly preserving and sharing the cultural heritage of Port Macquarie and the Mid North Coast of NSW is at the heart of our approach to sustainable tourism.

As an independent history museum and cultural tourism attraction, we care for our historic buildings and collections, preserve and share local stories, and continually look for ways to reduce our environmental impact while contributing positively to our local community.

For us, sustainable tourism means ensuring the stories, heritage and places that make Port Macquarie unique are preserved, shared and valued — now and for generations to come. We’re delighted to see sustainable tourism recognised and celebrated across our region.

Action in the reserves grade match between Port Macquarie and Gloucester, August 1971. Played at Westport Park, Port Mac...
13/08/2026

Action in the reserves grade match between Port Macquarie and Gloucester, August 1971. Played at Westport Park, Port Macquarie won the game, 35 points to nil. It was a different outcome in the first grade match, with Gloucester winning 50 points to 10.

Object Stories Australian red cedar tilt table c1910 made by Samuel Henry Welsford [1874-1956], a leading hand at the Hi...
11/08/2026

Object Stories
Australian red cedar tilt table c1910 made by Samuel Henry Welsford [1874-1956], a leading hand at the Hibbard Timber Mill. Welsford built a timber cottage for his family at Hibbard in 1904 from materials provided by his employer. Whilst not a trained cabinet maker, he was known to be 'a handy man with tools'. This table was treasured by Samuel Welsford's family who wished that it remain in Port Macquarie. Did you know August is Australian family history month? One of many family treasures you'll discover on a visit to Port Macquarie Museum (when we reopen)!

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22 Clarence Street
Port Macquarie, NSW
2444

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 4pm
Tuesday 10am - 4pm
Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 4pm
Saturday 10am - 4pm

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