Cobb & Co Museum facts for kids

Cobb & Co Museum

Established	1987
Location	27 Lindsay Street, Toowoomba
Type	History museum

The Queensland Museum Cobb+Co is a cool place to visit in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. It used to be called the Cobb & Co Museum. This museum is part of the bigger Queensland Museum Network. It's a great spot to learn about old ways of travel and life in Australia!

A Journey Through Time: The Museum's Story

The museum started with a special collection of old horse-drawn vehicles. A man named W. R. F. Bolton collected and fixed them. He gathered over 30 carriages and more than 100 other items. These included saddles, tools, and things people used every day.

Mr. Bolton first showed his collection at his transport company. Later, his daughter Jenny and her husband bought it. They wanted the collection to stay in Toowoomba. So, they worked with the Queensland Government. They agreed to donate it if a special building was built for it in Toowoomba.

In 1982, a formal agreement was made. It said the museum would be a special branch of the Queensland Museum. It would also be a memorial to Mr. Bolton and early transport pioneers. The museum promised to keep the collection safe and together.

The Cobb & Co Museum opened in 1987 to show off this amazing collection. Later, the Queensland Museum moved its own collection of 19th-century vehicles here too. This made the museum even bigger and better!

Growing Bigger and Better

The museum became very popular. So, a second part was added. This new area shows the history of Toowoomba and the Darling Downs region. The whole museum space became much larger. It also created space for the Museum Resource Centre for Southern Queensland.

In 2010, the museum got an $8 million upgrade. This included building a special "Factory" area. Here, you can see and learn about old-fashioned trades.

Learn a New Skill!

The museum offers workshops where you can try out heritage trades. These are skills from the past. You can learn things like:

• Blacksmithing (working with metal)
• Silversmithing (making things from silver)
• Stonemasonry (shaping stone)
• Millinery (making hats)
• Leather crafting (working with leather)
• Felting (making fabric from wool)
• Glass art (creating art with glass)
• Calligraphy (fancy handwriting)
• Leather plaiting (braiding leather)
• Creative bookmaking (making your own books)

These workshops are a fun way to learn how things were made long ago!

What You'll See Today

Today, the museum has over 50 horse-drawn vehicles. You can see strong farm wagons and drays. These show how European settlers moved around the Darling Downs. There are also sulkies and buggies from the 1880s.

You can also see fancy carriages like Phaetons and Landau. One Landau is even said to have belonged to a Queensland governor! These show how people traveled when life was slower.

The museum also has three original Cobb & Co coaches. One of them is the very last coach that ran from Yuleba to Surat in 1924.

The Famous Coach No. 100

Cobb & Co. coach No. 100 is super interesting! In 1963, Mr. Bolton paid for a special trip. It was a re-enactment of a Cobb & Co. coach journey. This was the longest coach journey ever! It went from Port Douglas all the way to Melbourne.

People could ride on the coach during the trip. They paid a fee for their travel. All the money raised went to the Royal Flying Doctor Service. This amazing event collected over £26,000 for a great cause!

See also

Cobb & Co

• List of museums