The Tool Shed

PERMANENT DISPLAY: MUSEUM GARDEN

This display features farm machinery from the 19th century. Livestock and crop farming sustained the Moruya District for the first 100 years. Transportation of goods to and from Sydney remained challenging and settlers had to rely very much on their own resources.

In the mid 1850s, Sydney entrepreneur Thomas Sutcliffe Mort started investing in the Bodalla area and became interested in the dairy industry. Mort streamlined the production process resulting in higher quality dairy products for the Sydney markets. By the 1880s dairying and pig farming were becoming the main agricultural activity. At the peak there were not less than 18 cheese factories in the Eurobodalla region.

The tool shed displays some of the machinery needed for working the land – including a machine for making corrugated iron. Cheese-making equipment is displayed in the adjacent Rotary Room.

For more information on Moruya’s farming history, see Moruya A Short History by Stuart Magee.