Port Chalmers Maritime Museum is a museum in the southern South Island of New Zealand.
Port Chalmers Maritime Museum is a museum in the southern South Island of New Zealand.
The museum, located in the historic port town of Port Chalmers is owned and operated by the Port Chalmers Historic Society and is open to the public. It is located in the town's former Post Office, a Heritage New Zealand Category 1 Historic Place, built in 1877, [1] which was built on reclaimed land on the site of the former Koputai Beach, the original landing site of the John Wickliffe , the first of the settler ships for the new settlement of Otago, which arrived in 1848.
The old Post Office has been thoroughly renovated, and in 2023 a new glass annex was built connecting the building with the headquarters of Port Otago, who currently operate Port Chalmers' adjacent container port. The annex was officially opened in October 2024. [2]
The Post Office wing's Main Gallery contains many items relating to the maritime history of both the port and New Zealand in general. This gallery contains a significant number of items relating to the Union Steam Ship Company, formerly one of the port's principal employers. Attached to it is the Pioneer Room, which contains more general exhibits relating to old Port Chalmers. [3]
The 2023 annex is divided into two main exhibit areas, the "Wall of Ships" — which consists of a large number of accurate scale models of historic ships which have a connection with the port [4] — and a laneway containing the "ABCDarium", and alphabetically organised series of exhibits relating to both seafaring and the history of Port Chalmers. [5] Alongside the Wall of Ships is a third exhibit, a massive ships propellor recreated from blades uncovered during the extension of the port's facilities.
A further feature of the annex is a viewing gallery which offers a close-up overview of the container port, allowing visitors to see its daily work operations at first hand. [6]