This summer the Yorke Peninsula Country Times is going to take you back through time and show off many of the unique treasures our local museums have hidden within their walls. To kick things off, we visited Price and checked out how the newly renovated space for the much anticipated, 34 years in the making, Price Museum, was progressing.

Rachel Hagan, Yorke Peninsula Country Times

Price is a town with a deep history and has been a key part of Yorke Peninsula, but one key feature it has been missing is a museum — that is until now.

By mid to late January, the Price Museum will be structurally ready to go, and all it will need is the interior to be installed before it can host visitors. Price Progress Association secretary Karen Newbold says it all needs to be finished by April 20, 2025, and she is confident all the work can be achieved by that deadline.

“In mid-January we will install all the graphics, and then it’s just up to me to gather all the bits and put them in there,” Ms Newbold says.

The museum shed was built in 1990, but the museum project did not progress at that time.

“They kept putting a call out for people to drop things off, and it just never really took off,” she says.

“So it was decided they would put the train in, not be open to the public, but you could just view it through the window.”

This train, currently the museum’s only star attraction, dates from the early 1900s when it carted grain to the wharf to be transported to Adelaide.

And then, as the industry in the area changed, the train was used to carry salt from the local saltworks.

Most of the tracks have been removed, but the museum shed has preserved a small section, which the train now sits on.

The museum project, a goal for the progress association for the past decade, is becoming a reality thanks to a $47,000 grant from Primary Industries and Resources SA.

Ms Newbold says the town’s 140th anniversary celebration spurred progress on the museum project, as it brought many previously unseen items to light.

One of these artefacts was an old ice cream tray which was used to serve moviegoers their choc tops.

“You put a strap around your neck and go around selling the ice cream — I’m hoping they will donate it to the museum,” she said.

The goal for the museum is to help people connect, and Ms Newbold hopes the community will get behind it and donate their historical items.

“It is definitely going to foster a sense of pride in our community because there’s so much history here that we no longer realise,” she says.

“You could come to Price and never know there were once boats down there loading cargo and taking it away.”

As well as being a place for the past, there are also plans to turn the facility into a community hub.

“People can drop in if they are feeling lonely and isolated, and just pop in and have a chat,” Ms Newbold says.

“We know there are people in our community who want help with digital access, and some people do not have internet access at all.

“Some are unable to navigate systems like MyGov, so we want to have a computer set up with the internet to help.”

The museum is located on Fowler Terrace in the heart of Price and is surrounded by other new developments, such as the playground, walking trails and a coffee van.

“Our vision for this area is a recreational precinct, not somewhere you just come for 20 minutes — we want people for two hours,” she said.

“Eventually, down the track when we can get some more funding, we want to do a skate park.”

This article appeared in the Yorke Peninsula Country Times, 3 December 2024.