Gayndah Museum

Gayndah Museum - bringing Gayndah's past into the future

Gayndah is a rural township located on the Burnett River approximately 366 km northwest of Brisbane and approximately 144 km west of Maryborough.

The area around Gayndah was first explored in 1843 and the first squatters moved into the district in 1847. The township of Gayndah commenced on the site chosen, and named, by the Land Commissioner for the Burnett, Maurice Charles O'Connell in 1849

The area around Gayndah was initially used for grazing with cattle replacing sheep by 1880. The town thrived on grazing until 1892 when the first orange and mandarin trees were planted.

Dairy farming also rose to prominence when the railway arrived in 1907 but has now all but disappeared from the district.

By 1861 Gayndah had it's first newspaper and regular coach connection to Maryborough. In 1863 the first school was built and in 1864 the first bank opened in town.

Today Gayndah is a modern progressive town of around 2,000 people but there are still plenty of reminders of its colonial heritage and the Gayndah Museum has been established to preserve and display that heritage.

So visit the Gayndah Museum and see what colonial life was like.