Description of the attraction
The Broome Historical Society Museum is housed in a building built in the late 1890s as a shop. From 1910 to 1979, the building housed the Customs House, and today it is one of the best regional museums in Australia, supported by volunteers.
Almost immediately after construction, the main store of Newman Goldstein & Co. opened in the building. It contained everything needed for the company's flotilla, consisting of 22 Lugger sailing ships, 2 schooners and a steam boat. The store was also an important trading enterprise, supplying pearl divers and buying pearls from other fleets.
In 1904, the building that then housed the customs was destroyed by termites, and despite public outcry, in 1910 the government office moved into a store building. In 1979, the Broomshire County Council purchased this building for the future museum, which opened in 1981.
Today, the museum houses several exhibitions introducing the history of the pearl industry, the indigenous culture of Western Australia, the one-day war, the life of Broome and the collection of memorabilia.
