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Did you know...
Did you know that the Miner's Cottage collection showcases many aspects of Charters Towers' rich history? From the gold mining (past and present) to the role Charters Towers men played in WWI as "tunnelers". Because of their experience as underground miners, quite a few "Towers" men were employed to dig tunnels between the trenches at the "front lines". They were "diggers" in the true sense of the word...
The five rooms of this timber cottage are filled with artefacts and memorablia which have been collected from the district over the past 16 years.
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| Collection of Household Irons | |
The museum displays include a selection of domestic household irons, which takes one back to the early days when the woman of the house would heat up the appliance on the wood stove and do the ironing. Many different types are situated in an original pine kitchen dresser.
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Did you know...
Did you know that the cottage is a typical example of a workers cottage from the gold mining era? Many hundreds of these timber framed dwellings were constructed during the boom times, and when the gold production dropped off in the 1920s, many of these houses were simply dismantled and taken away to Townsville, Hughenden and towns out west.
Thankfully, this little cottage survived the downturn in mining and now it is one of the town's tourist attractions. Being situated close to the Post Office, it is easily reached by visitors to this old "Gold City" of Queensland. The cottage has links with the historic "Northern Miner" newspaper of Charters Towers. In fact, the daughter-in-law of Thadeus O'Kane (a famous newspaper editor from the late 1800's) lived in this cottage until her death in 1934. Her ghostly appearances have made the cottage a bit spooky! Jeannie O'Kane was her name and her bedroom is kept just the way it would have looked when she was alive...
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Many of the exhibits are based around gold mining. There is a hand made model depicting the type of wooden headframe a "poppet head & brace" that was a common sight on this major goldfield.
On special occasions or on request, a 100 year old original brass steam whistle is blown. These whistles were mounted on just about every mine or battery in town and could be heard regularly as the shifts changed or if there was a mine accident. When these deep shafts reached the gold bearings reefs 1000's of feet underground, steam whistles would blast out the good news of the strike.
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Did you know...
Did you know that visitors to the Museum are welcome to explore the cottage at their leisure, or they can join a guided tour by one of the staff? If they wish, they can view a short film on the history of the building by the owner (Alan Silverwood) or just sit on the open verandah with a good book!
The museum recently purchased part of the personal book collection of the late Mr. Stephen Saunders from Charters Towers. Stephen amassed a personal collection of over 38,000 books in his lifetime and now many of his wonderful books are on display in the reading room of the Miner's Cottage. The books are mainly on Australian topics, from bushrangers to camp oven cooking. There are rare books on Gallipoli and original mining journals written about Charters Towers deep goldmines. This collection of books is quite fascinating in itself...
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The aim of this museum is to bring back not just the memories of the past but also some of the sounds, smells and atmosphere of these golden years.
Work is underway to include a working three head gold stamper in the "tin shed". This will add a very interesting and educational aspect to the museum. Already, many school children visit the museum to learn first hand how the town developed and as part of the visit they are taught how to pan for gold. The staff are very proficient at this skill and love passing it on to the younger generation.
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