Braidwood District Historical Society Museum facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Braidwood District Historical Society Museum |
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Braidwood Museum, 2013
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| Location | Wallace Street, Braidwood, Queanbeyan-Palerang Region, New South Wales, Australia |
| Owner | Braidwood Historical Society |
| Official name: Braidwood District Historical Society Museum | |
| Type | state heritage (built) |
| Designated | 2 April 1999 |
| Reference no. | 149 |
| Type | House |
| Category | Residential buildings (private) |
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The Braidwood District Historical Society Museum is a special old building in Braidwood, Australia. It has a long and interesting history. This building used to be a hotel and a meeting hall. Now, it is a museum where you can learn about the past.
The Braidwood Historical Society owns this historic place. It was officially added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999. This means it is a very important building that needs to be protected.
A Building with Many Lives
This museum building was first built in the 1840s. Back then, it was known as the Royal Hotel. Imagine people staying there almost 200 years ago!
In 1870, a group called the Grand United Order of Oddfellows bought the building. They paid £700 for it. The Oddfellows were a friendly society, like a club that helped its members. They turned the hotel into their meeting place, called an Oddfellows Hall. They made some changes, adding a staircase and new halls on both floors.
Later, in 1937, the building was sold again. It became part of the Commercial Hotel, which is now the Braidwood Hotel. During World War II, there was a shortage of homes. So, this old building was changed into simple flats for people to live in.
After the war, the building was empty for many years. It started to fall apart. But in 1970, the Braidwood Historical Society bought it. They worked very hard to fix it up, room by room. Local people helped by raising money. In the 1980s, they even received a big grant of $30,000. Thanks to all this effort, the building is now the Braidwood Museum.
What the Museum Looks Like
The museum is a two-storey building made of stone. It was built in different stages over the late 1800s. The front of the building, facing the street, is made of carefully cut granite blocks. The windows have special flat arches above them.
You can see where an old two-storey veranda used to be. There are windows with twelve sliding panes. There are also doorways on both levels, including French doors on the first floor. These doors show where the original veranda once stood. The sides and back of the building are made from rougher granite stones. The roof is new, made of corrugated steel.
Inside, you can still see some beautiful old features. There are wooden fireplaces, wooden baseboards, and special cedar door frames. The window sills are also very deep. The floorboards are wide and seem to be the original ones. The main staircase in the middle of the building looks mostly original, with an old-fashioned style. The walls in this stair hall have a marbled look and old wallpaper from the early 1900s.
Changes Over Time
The Oddfellows Society added some parts to the building around the 1880s. They built a tower and large meeting rooms on two levels at the back. These new parts were made of brick and had a fancy style. The staircase added by the Oddfellows in the late 1800s is still there. Above it, you can see a skylight, which was popular in the 1890s.
The meeting rooms still have their original floorboards. They also have old-style windows with twelve panes and panel doors. The upper meeting room has a curved ceiling with original decorations. There were once beams supporting a veranda on the north side of the upper room. This veranda was later removed to make space for an extension.
The original kitchen was a separate building in the backyard. It was made of granite with sandstone window sills and tops. It had a brick chimney and a sloped roof. The windows were also twelve-pane sliding sashes.
In the backyard, you can also find an old brick stable. Its roof is covered with timber shingles. There is also a log building that was once a lock-up (a small jail) from the 1800s. It was moved to this spot.
Here are some of the main changes made to the building over the years:
- The front veranda was removed.
- The Oddfellows Society built the stair tower and the back meeting halls around the 1880s.
- The veranda for the upper meeting hall was taken away. This allowed for an extension to be built, probably around the year 1900.
Why It's Important
The Braidwood District Historical Society Museum is listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register. This happened on 2 April 1999. This listing means the building is very important to the history and culture of New South Wales. It helps us understand how people lived and worked in the past.
