Wellington Museum facts for kids
Wellington Museum in the Wellington Harbour Board Head Office and Bond Store building.
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| Former name | Museum of City & Sea |
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| Established | 1972 |
| Location | Wellington Harbour Board Head Office and Bond Store,3 Jervois Quay, Queens Wharf, Wellington, New Zealand |
The Wellington Museum is a cool place to visit in Wellington, New Zealand. It's located right on Queens Wharf, by the water. This museum used to be called the Museum of City & Sea.
The museum is inside a really old building from 1892. This building was once a "Bond Store," which was a special warehouse for storing goods. In 2013, a newspaper called The Times even said it was one of the world's 50 best museums!
Inside, the museum has four floors. Each floor tells a part of Wellington's story. You can learn about the city's history with the sea, the first Māori settlers, and how European people came to live there. The museum shows how Wellington grew over 150 years to become New Zealand's capital city.
There's a huge cinema screen that goes up through three floors! It plays movies about Wellington. You can also find three special theatre areas. One tells old Māori legends using a cool "pepper's ghost" trick. Another remembers the sad sinking of the Wahine ferry in Wellington Harbour. On the top floor, there's a fun Wellington Time Machine. A new area called The Attic opened in 2015 after a big makeover.
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How the Museum Started
The museum began in 1972. Back then, it was called the Wellington Maritime Museum. It was run by the Wellington Harbour Board. This board looked after Wellington's port and harbour.
In 1989, the museum changed hands. The Wellington City Council (WCC) took over. This meant the museum could tell more stories than just about the sea. It started to include the social history of the whole Wellington region. The building was fully changed into the Museum of Wellington City & Sea in 1999. Then, in July 2015, its name became Wellington Museum. Today, a group called Experience Wellington runs it.
What You Can See: Exhibitions
The Wellington Museum has many interesting exhibits. They are spread across the four floors of the old Wellington Harbour Board Head Office and Bond Store building.
The Bond Store Exhibit
This exhibit shows you what the museum building looked like a long time ago. It was used as a warehouse in the late Victorian era. Goods were stored here before they were taxed or moved.
Maritime Gallery and Wahine Theatre
This part of the museum is all about Wellington's history with the sea. You can see a full-size captain's cabin! There's also a display about a famous dog named Paddy the Wanderer. He was a stray dog who loved to explore the city's wharves and ships.
The Wahine Theatre is a special place to remember the TEV Wahine disaster. This was when a ferry sank in Wellington Harbour. You can see items saved from the wreck. There's also a short film by a New Zealand filmmaker, Gaylene Preston.
Von Kohorn Room
The Von Kohorn Room used to be the main meeting room for the Wellington Harbour Board. It's named after Baron Ralph Steven von Kohorn. He helped the museum a lot over many years. He received an award in 1987 for his service to Wellington.
See also
In Spanish: Museo de Wellington para niños
