York Residency Museum

The Museum was founded in 1972 and is regarded as one of the leading country museums in Western Australia. Situated in the historic town of York, WA's first inland settlement formed in 1831, approximately 100k from Perth, it is housed in an 1850's heritage-listed building once the Superintendents' Quarters of the York Convict Depot. Major building conservation work and new exhibitions have been undertaken in recent years resulting in a very high standard of interpretation of the building and collections. The displays tell many stories about a wide range of local people, their everyday lives, work, play, hopes, triumphs and fears. Ballardong Noongar culture is well represented and the story of Chinese migrant market gardeners tells a unique facet of rural life. The collections are especially rich in domestic equipment, costume and textiles and illustrate nineteenth century life in rural Western Australia well.