Tweed Heads Historical Society

History Of The Tweed

Museum Buildings

The Tweed Maritime Museum is located in Pioneer Park, West Tweed Heads. The Museum complex is set in beautiful surroundings, with shady trees, picnic facilities and backing onto the peaceful waters of Terranora Inlet. Toilets and cold water are also provided in the park  

The Museum complex consists of four buildings. The old Tweed Heads Court House is the Headquarters of the Tweed Heads Historical Society Inc., custodians of the Tweed Maritime Museum. As well as housing the historical records of the Society (which are available for research), the building contains a fine collection of historical photographs depicting the early Tweed settlements, beach and country scenes, shipping, pioneer families and commerce.     

   Close by is the Old Soldiers Hall, (opened in 1941), once the home of the Tweed Heads and Coolangatta RSL Sub branch and now housing the Museum ‘s artifact collection. Notable amongst these are a memorial exhibit commemorating the sinking of the Australian hospital ship, “Centaur” in 1943; a Navy training sailing dingy; a working model of the Fingal Lighthouse, the oldest building in the Tweed Valley; a rare model of explorer John Oxley’s vessel, the “Mermaid” and various other maritime artifacts. One wall of the Museum’s interior has been dedicated to the sons and daughters of the area who served in the world wars, and those who paid the supreme sacrifice. We are currently refurbishing the memorial wall through a generous grant of $3000.00 from Department of Veterans Affairs.    

  

Boyd’s fishing shed, like all other buildings in the complex, has been relocated to Pioneer Park. In the case of Boyd’s shed, it has been reassembled overhanging the waters of Terranora Inlet, just as it did in its original location (on Kennedy Drive just to the west of the original Boyd’s Bay Bridge).
The building contains artifacts and memorabilia pertaining to the Boyd family, a well known Tweed Pioneer family, and to the Tweed River.  
 

 

  

The final building is a refurbished deckhouse built in the 1870′s. A deckhouse was a form of portable crew accommodation hoisted onto the decks of ships. This deckhouse had a varied career, being reused time and again on various vessels as the need arose, among them the drogher “Murwillumbah”.  This deckhouse was used in later years as a storeroom at the Naval Cadets training establishment, T.S. Vampire, on Dry Dock Road. The deckhouse has been restored to closely resemble its original form. 
 

 

 

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