Hood Penn Museum

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A family collection which turned in to a museum

This quirky museum includes several very realistic mannequins, including the friendly bartender from the old Edna May Hotel Bar! The collection was acquired as a donation from the Hood-Penn family which previously owned the Burracoppin Store, and includes Chris Penn's impressive bottle collection, acquired as a result of walking around Burracoppin. You can learn about the gold rush and mining history of Westonia, which was settled in 1910. The Museum features a variety of scenes highlighting early life in the shire, such as the pub, doctor's office, blacksmith/farm workshop and shop/hardware store. Visitors can enter a makeshift mine shaft that shakes to simulate blasting and rocks falling underground.

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Address:

38 Wolfram Street
Westonia WA 6423
Australia

Tel:

(08) 9046 7063

Email:

shire@westonia.wa.gov.au

Opening Hours

Mon to Fri 9am - 4:30pm, except public holidays; Sat to Sun 10am - 12pm; Summer Holiday weekends open by appointment only; Admission fees apply

Little blue truck

Recycled joy

In the early 2000s Richard Dunkley-Cooper found this truck, along with various other toys, in a shed on a friend’s farm north of the shire. He took them home and painted them for his two children, to...

18 carat gold brooch

Westonia's first nugget

In 1910, whilst prospecting and sandalwood cutting, Alfred David Weston found the gold nugget on this brooch. The nugget was the first of three he found in the area, and he had all three nuggets set...

Blue wool bathers

Salt air outback

These blue bathers were owned by a local man in the 1940s. Bathers like these, from the 1930s and 1940s, were made of wool and could be worn by men or women. Westonia was unusual in the region, as it...

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A stop on the edge of the desert

Wiluna is the southern gateway to the Canning Stock Route and the western gateway to the Gunbarrel Highway. The Canning-Gunbarrel Discovery Centre is housed inside the old Wiluna District Hospital and...

Merredin Regional Library

Old school local history collection and research in the library

The local history collection at the Merredin Library was started to gather items not connected to military and railway history, captured in other local collections. The Merredin Library is located in...

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A Fortunate Life

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