North Stradbroke Island Historical Museum

NORTH STRADBROKE ISLAND HISTORICAL MUSEUM

Pop in to learn about the fascinating history of the Island, chat with a local, or buy a unique gift from our shop. Don’t leave Straddie without a bottle of our famous cumquat marmalade!

History

The North Stradbroke Island Historical Museum was officially opened on 22 October 1988 by the Sixth Earl of Stradbroke and Countess Rosie at Point Lookout Hall. It is now housed in a combination of original and replica Benevolent Asylum buildings. The main Museum building: the front section was built by mineral sand mining company CRL using materials from a dismantled Benevolent Asylum ward and housed two flats for the company’s employees. When the mining company no longer needed the building, the Museum committee, then in a cramped annex to the Point Lookout Public Hall, proposed it be moved to Point Lookout. When relocation proved impossible, the Museum moved from Point Lookout to the building instead. The back section, designed by architect Chris Hills, was built in 2005-06. The replica foul ward, housing photos and artifacts from the Benevolent Asylum, was built with the help of a Centenary of Federation Grant in 1998-99. The single-skinned building with a fireplace was built by Artie Rentoul from the original plan by Andrew Petrie (1872), held in the Qld State Archives. The construction followed the building practices of the era and no nail guns were used, where possible. The herdsman’s hut (on the left) was part of the old Benevolent Asylum dairy, originally located on the corner of Mitchell Crescent and Welsby St. When the Asylum closed, the herdsman’s hut served at one stage as a home for a long-time Island family and as a Redland Shire Council depot. It was destined for demolition but volunteers dismantled and re-erected it on the Museum site in 1996.

 

Address: 15-17 Welsby St, Dunwich, QLD 4183