Margaret River Historical Society

Visiting the cluster of small buildings which make up the local historical museum really is like stepping back in time to the 1920s. Not only is there an old schoolhouse set up ready for a class of children, but a stroll around the site will take you past the wash house, dairy, machinery shed and into an original ‘Groupie’, an old Group Settlement house. Inside the unlined wooden cottage are many examples of the ingenuity of the group settlers. Old kerosene boxes have been converted into shelving and cupboards, and even padded to create an armchair. Look out for many other hand-made items, including needlework and a children’s wooden chair. The wooden schoolhouse from the old settlement of Bramley, just a few kilometres north east of the Margaret River town, has been relocated to the site and houses a fascinating collection of photographs and archives which tells the history of Margaret River and districts during the early 1920s when the Group Settlement Scheme brought people to the district. The volunteers who run this Museum pride themselves on the ‘hands-on’ experiences that they give visiting school children, who get to do the washing with a washing board, and make scones which are cooked in the Metters wood stove.