Northcliffe was established in 1924 as part of the Group Settlement Scheme which required the State Government to settle migrants in the South West.

The Northcliffe Pioneer Museum poignantly tells the story of how the 27 groups and 1400 settlers survived. Three rooms inside a 1940s timber mill cottage are devoted to original items from the first store and the group homes.

Photographs, stories and maps facilitate research.

Squeeze into the desks in Bush School 121, dip a pen into an ink well and copy the blackboard. See the separator and milk bottling machine used by the earliest dairy farmers.

The timber industry has always played a crucial role in Northcliffe, home to many of the tallest trees in the South West to this day. At first trees were felled to build the group homes, and then the land was cleared for dairy farms. Later, in the 1940s, two large hardwood mills were established.

The 59-year-old R&I building, in addition to bank memorabilia, displays a variety of saws and chainsaws and in the grounds are a 1916 Famous Portable Engine and a Robey Engine.

In the George Gardner Fossils and Rock Collection of over 1200 items you will find the ash of ancient volcanoes, fossilised creatures 600 million years old and colourful crystals. Come here to identify the wildflowers you have seen by searching through George Gardner’s record of over 500 species he found in the region and recorded on film.

Imagine what life was like for the group pioneers who bravely opened up this land of sand dunes and dense forest.