Old Gippstown, Open-air museum in Moe, Australia
Old Gippstown is an open-air museum spread across three hectares featuring approximately 40 historical buildings representing architectural styles from 1850 to 1950. The structures are scattered across the grounds to show how settlements developed during this period.
The site opened as the Gippsland Folk Museum in 1973 after the City of Moe Development Association began its foundation work in 1967. The project grew from a desire to rescue buildings that would otherwise have been lost.
The site demonstrates how people in the Gippsland region lived and worked, with tools, vehicles, and equipment from the early settlement period visible throughout. Visitors can observe daily life and crafts from over 100 years ago.
The site caters to different types of visitors, with educational programs for school groups and event spaces for larger activities. Plan to spend time walking slowly through the grounds, as buildings are spread across a large area.
The complex features a working water wheel from Buxton that still demonstrates 19th-century milling techniques to visitors today. The Sunny Creek School building from 1920 also stands preserved on the grounds, showing what rural education looked like before it closed in 1966.
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