History House Museum facts for kids
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History House Museum in the former Grey County Council Chambers
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| Established | 1996 |
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| Location | 27 Gresson Street, Greymouth, New Zealand |
The History House Museum holds a special collection of photos, old records, and historical items. These treasures tell the story of the Grey District on the West Coast of New Zealand. The museum first opened in 1996 inside the old Grey County Council Chambers building. However, the building was found to be unsafe in case of an earthquake and had to close in 2017. The museum is now looking for a new permanent home for its amazing collection.
How the Museum Started
The History House Museum was once located at 27 Gresson Street in Greymouth. This building used to be the home of the Grey County Council, which was formed in 1877. The Council built these chambers in 1924. In 1989, the building became empty when the County Council joined with other local councils to form the Grey District Council.
The idea to turn the empty building into a history museum came from Kevin Brown, who was a deputy mayor. He worked with Mayor Ron Hibbs and Kevin Beams from the Grey District Council. Kevin Brown gathered many volunteers from local groups and the community. These volunteers helped get the building ready and put together the first collection of items. The museum officially opened in 1996, with Kevin Brown as its first manager.
Why the Museum Moved
In February 2017, experts checked the old Grey County Council Chambers building. They found it was not strong enough to be safe during an earthquake. The building needed a lot of expensive work to make it safe. Also, it was in an area that could flood. Because of these problems, the museum had to close its doors. The important historical records were moved to the Grey District Library for safekeeping.
People discussed different ideas for the museum's future. Some thought about combining it with a "Discovery Centre." Others wondered if the collection should be split up. There was also an idea to move the museum to a different building.
The museum's old location was not easy for tourists to find. It was far from the railway station where most visitors arrived. This meant not many people visited the museum each day.
Before the collection could move, all the items needed to be properly listed and catalogued. This was a big job and cost a lot of money. Some items that were more relevant to other areas of the West Coast were sent to the Hokitika Museum and Coaltown Museum.
In December 2017, the museum opened a temporary "pop-up" space in a different building. This temporary museum was very popular! It had many more visitors than its old home. Even though this space closed in July 2018, it showed that people were interested in the museum's collection.
In September 2018, the Council decided to put money towards making the old Gresson Street building stronger. However, they also planned to move the museum into a new "discovery centre" in the future, which would include a library. The old building still had problems with keeping the right temperature, fire safety, and storage, even if it was made stronger. In 2020, the old building was emptied. The museum's collection was moved into two special shipping containers that control temperature and humidity to keep the items safe.
What's in the Collection?
The History House Museum has many interesting items that tell the story of the Grey District.
- Photographs: There are many old photos showing Greymouth, gold mining, coal mining, timber cutting, shipping, and how people lived long ago.
- Surveying Tools: In 1998, the museum received a full set of old surveying instruments. These tools were used to measure land and are very well-made.
- Diver's Suit: You can see an old diver's suit with heavy lead boots and a pump that supplied oxygen. This was used by divers working at the Greymouth Wharf.
- Mining Maps: The museum has early maps of coal mines.
- Greenstone Jade: There is a collection showing the history of working with greenstone jade in the region.
- Royal Chair: The museum has the chair that Queen Elizabeth II sat on during her visit to New Zealand in 1954.
- Baby Scales: A set of Fairburn baby weighing scales, brought to Greymouth from the USA, is also part of the collection.
- Shipwreck Timber: There is timber from the SS Abel Tasman, a ship that was wrecked at the Grey River mouth in 1936.
- Sunshine Recorder: A Campbell-Stokes recorder was used to measure how many hours of sunshine there were.
- Photographer's Album: An album of photos by local photographer Charles Ring is also kept here.
- Gold Bag: A metal and leather bag that was used for carrying gold bars.
- Sawmill Model: A model showing how sawmills operated at Lake Brunner.
In 1999, the museum also showed an exhibition of ten copies of paintings by C. F. Goldie. These were on loan from a private collection.
- Former displays in Grey District Council Chambers
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Main display room
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Coal mine room
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Hotels of Westland
