Day 124 Pioneer Park Museum

Today we went to the Griffith Pioneer Park Museum. City history museum displaying historic buildings & machinery, plus wine & Italian exhibitions. An open-air Museum consisting of 40+ buildings housing exhibitions dedicated to preservation of Griffith & district history, set amongst picturesque bush land on Scenic Hill.

There was a whole exhibition dedicated to the Italian Museum and Cultural Centre with complete collections from a couple of local families and all the stories to go with them. Just amazing that such large collections were kept by someone to be included. A really well presented history of the Italians in Griffith and the Italian radio history stems from the local legacy of the Continental Music Club, a pioneering 1951 radio program on station 2RG started by Al Grassby and members of the Italian community. The broadcast featured Italian and Spanish music, important community news, and practical farming advice. At a time when Italian migrants faced social prejudice, the program helped preserve cultural roots while fostering connection with the wider Griffith community. They are fortunate enough to have preserved this heritage through its special Continental Music Club record collection, which is still used for special events.













Myall Park Hall built in 1936 using local timber from Merriwagga as the community hall, with locals raising the funds needed to build it with card nights, dances etc. It was used as a school in 1952.









An example of an early settler's house. These homes were subsidised by the Irrigation Commision. Originally located at Benerembah, it was built in 1938 and lived in until 1970.








Re-creation of Dumossa Inn with dismantled logs from Gunbar Farms and Dumossa Homestead.







St James Church built originally in 1907 near Bilbul, moved by a bullock drawn sled to the village of Hanwood in 1913, used for Anglican worship until 1971.





The carrot washer used 1952-1970 prototype of all carrot washers used to this day in MIA patented in 1956, previously carrots were washed by hand.




Fire Engine Shed housing NSW Fire No 8.1 commissioned by the NSW Fire Brigade in 1927. The engine served Grafton, Singleton and the South Coast region until 1961 when is was purchased and brought to the area.



Taylor Bros. Store recreation of Griffith's first retail shop, operated in the main street from 1919 to 1941.







The Knitted Garden a portable school room formerly used at Griffith High currently housing the knitted garden.







Maggie the iron lung is a historic medical respirator housed in the hospital. The machine is a rare surviving example of a negative-pressure ventilator used during the 1950s polio epidemics to support patients who lost the ability to breathe independently. "Maggie" was utilized locally in Griffith during the polio crisis of the 1950s. The iron lung was painstakingly restored and given a full makeover by Griffith Rotary member Ross Grillo to feature in regional awareness campaigns and a 1,680-kilometre polio-awareness bike relay across Rotary District 9700.



Griffiths first major post office operated from 1917 - 1969. Rebuilt on site with original fittings, windows etc.




Fairview Cottage a drop log cottage built in1880 by Alfred Hill and family at Tabbita (Goolgowi district). Extensions were done and breezeway closed in to accommodate the growing family. It was lived in until 1953 when the youngest son passed away. It was named Fairview by Mr Hill as he stated he could see a "Fair view of work for the rest of my life".



We drove past the orange orchids and purchased some fresh local oranges and mandarins at the roadside stall. Griffith is Australia's largest citrus-growing region, famous for producing a massive share of the nation's oranges. The Griffith and surrounding Riverina "food bowl" region produces roughly 70% of New South Wales' citrus and a major percentage of Australia's total orange and citrus output. Local growers specialize in standard juicing and eating oranges, specialty blood oranges, and lemons supported by the region's intense sunshine and irrigation networks.