Western Australian Maritime Museum
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| Established | 1891 |
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| Location | Perth, Fremantle, Albany, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie-Boulder |
| Collection size | Approx 4.7 million items in fields of Zoology, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Anthropology, Archaeology and History. |
| Website | Museum.wa.gov.au |
The Western Australian Museum is the state museum for Western Australia. It has six main sites: in Perth within the Perth Cultural Centre, two in Fremantle (Maritime and Shipwreck Galleries), and one each in Albany, Geraldton, and Kalgoorlie-Boulder. The Western Australian Museum is a statutory authority within the Culture and the Arts Portfolio, established under the Museum Act 1969.
Established in 1891 in the Old Perth Gaol, it was known as the Geological Museum and consisted of geological collections. In 1892, ethnological and biological exhibits were added, and in 1897, the museum officially became the Western Australian Museum and Art Gallery.
During 1959, the botanical collection was transferred to the new herbarium and the museum and the art gallery became separate institutions. The museum focussed its collecting and research interests in the areas of natural sciences, anthropology, archaeology, and Western Australia's history. Over the 1960s and 1970s, it also began to work in the then-emerging areas of historic shipwrecks and Aboriginal site management.
The Western Museum has six museum branches and four collection facilities. The museum also offers outreach services to all areas of Western Australia.
On 9 September 1891, the Geological Museum was opened at the site of the Old Gaol and housed the state's first collection of geological samples. The Old Gaol still forms a significant part of the Western Australian Museum — Perth and is one of the oldest standing buildings in Western Australia.
Shortly after the Geological Museum was opened, collections were expanded to include geological, ethnological and biological specimens and in 1897, the Western Australian Museum and Art Gallery was declared. From 1971 to 2003, a greater part of the research and display collections were housed in a large building on Francis Street. This site was closed due to concerns with asbestos, and demolition concluded in late 2011.
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