Port Victoria Maritime Museum, Maritime museum in Port Victoria, Australia

Port Victoria Maritime Museum occupies a cargo shed shipped from the United Kingdom in kit form in 1877 and completed in January 1878. It stands at the landward end of the jetty and holds photographs, exhibits and DVD presentations on the bagged grain trade and the Cape Horners.

The location served as a major grain shipping port from roughly 1880 to 1950, with sailing ships carrying cargo around Cape Horn to European markets. The region thrived during this international trade period and the museum keeps memories of this prosperous maritime era alive.

The First Encounters Display shows how the Narungga Indigenous people lived along these coasts and used the sea for their daily life. Visitors can see their traditional connections to the waters of Spencer Gulf reflected in objects and stories on display.

The museum occupies the 1877 cargo shed at the landward end of the jetty, where the grain was once carried down to ketches and schooners. Allow time to read the displays and the Cape Horner signage, and to view the DVD presentations on the grain trade. The Wardang Island Maritime Heritage Trail marks eight shipwreck sites in the bay.

The Wardang Island Maritime Heritage Trail marks eight shipwreck sites around the island, and the museum displays artifacts recovered from them. Among the collection is a Cape Horner sign commemorating sailors who rounded Cape Horn; the Parma made the passage in 83 days in 1933.