Thanks to the generosity of local donors

The burial of two British soldiers on the battlefield, Postcard, c.1914-1918
Image courtesy of Tauranga Heritage Collection

With over 35,000 objects in the Tauranga Heritage Collection, artefacts range from World War One postcards and patent medicines to a surfboard built from a Popular Mechanics magazine at Mount Maunganui in 1952. These treasures and thousands of others reveal our cities past, thanks to the generosity of local donors over many years.

The Three Carboys Vaporizing Liquid, for the relief of whooping cough
Image courtesy of Tauranga Heritage Collection, Ref. 0734/06

Indeed the early collection registers read like a Who’s Who of Tauranga in the 1960s and 70s, as long time residents responded to the call for artefacts from the Tauranga Historical Society. In 1969 the Society’s aim to establish a Museum was realized when the Tauranga City Council provided premises in Hamilton Street to display the collected items. 

There are many familiar names amongst the hundreds of donors listed in just the first collection register. These include Elva Brain (Brain Watkins House Museum), Frances Goodyear, George Walsh MP, William Cross (Bay of Plenty Times), Eric Faulkner (Mayor of Tauranga 1977-1980), Hugh Lever, Joan Mirrielees and Charlie Haua.