The people of Moulamein and district have embraced their Moulamein Heritage Village (MHV).
Taking just over four years to complete, we reconstructed our first historic building, Jeraly wool shed, in 2020.
We have just completed the cultural infrastructure around the village, which was generously funded by the NSW Government’s Creative Capital program. It includes a large sealed car park with designated disabled car parking spaces and magnificent wide concrete pathways linking the car park to all the buildings on site. It also has solar powered light poles along all the pathways of the village and around the car park. The lights come on automatically after dark and illuminate the historic buildings.
The three red gum picnic tables and chairs at the village were built by the talented craftsmen of the Moulamein Men’s Shed.
The historic Gee Gee Bridge timbers frame the entrance and exit to the museum.
It is inspiring to see locals bringing their family and friends to the heritage village to show off their local history. Many people that visit Moulamein have a connection to the land, the wool industry or farming; or just love old buildings and vintage farm vehicles and machinery.
Our MHV is used by many as a venue for social gatherings. We have had farmers’ forums, community consultation meetings, yoga and meditation classes, the Celebrate Moulamein Festival and recently, the annual Moulamein Yabby Races and Easter Fair, run by the Moulamein Preschool.
In addition, we have had three funerals of long-time Moulamein residents, whose families were proud to use our large rural cathedral, Jeraly wool shed. We have a wedding reception booked in for November this year (so, it’ll be ‘1 wedding and 3 funerals’ for MHV).
Our heritage village has succeeded in becoming a museum that people want to experience, to use, and also to proudly showcase the pioneering history of this dynamic part of the Riverina.
Our MHV is leased and run by the community (our Moulamein Community Development Inc (MCD)). Murray River Council supports the MHV by cleaning our amenities pavilion each week.
MHV is a magnet for all travellers to Moulamein. People stop at this convenient location. They use the amenities pavilion (and enjoy a hot shower for a $2 coin). Caravanners use the RV dump point near the village. They take time to explore the buildings and enjoy a cuppa and snack at our red gum picnic tables and chairs.
The Creative Capital Grant from NSW brings to a total of $1.2 million in grant funding we have received to establish the village.
Once we can train a few more volunteers, we can open our visitor centre on regular days each week. At present, we are open by appointment and for functions and events.
This last stage of our project took additional time to complete due to our town being impacted by the floods of 2022. Our local building firm of Redfearn Trading, and their stoic team of builders, worked around all the challenges to complete everything by June this year.
Our MCD Inc volunteers spent numerous days working on developing the site using their own machinery.
President of Moulamein Community Development Inc, Drew Harris, said all the hard work has been worthwhile; to see what was an empty paddock become a tourist hub close to the heart of Moulamein.
This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 1 August 2024.
