The Maitland Museum is housed in the former school building at the corner of Gardiner and Kilkerran Terraces. The earliest part was built in 1877, a residence with one school room at a cost of 950 pounds. The school opened in 1878 with 106 students enrolled, although the average attendance was only 45! Over the next 100 years a new residence was constructed and more and more rooms added as numbers increased and the status of the school went from Primary to Higher Primary to Area School. In 1979 the property was vacated by the Education department and granted to the National Trust for use as a Museum. It is run by the Central Yorke Peninsula Branch of the National Trust of SA.
As well as the school building further displays include :
- The Barley Shed – which houses the first windrower imported into Australia
- Power House – showing how power was generated on farms before 240 volt power was available
- Blacksmith Shop – tools, equipment, and furnace on display from the local WJ Noble shop
- Ynoo Homestead Replica
- The Maitland Watch (first newspaper in the region circa 1911) machinery and typeset printer, with newspaper examples from the early days
- Local Hospital and Ambulance Service Items of interest
- Rural Youth, CWA (Country Women’s Association & WAB (Women’s Agricultural Bureau)
- Local Aboriginal Cultural Documentation & Items of interest
- A kitchen & cooking display, Bedroom and Laundry display,
- Winulta Lutheran Church display
- Farming Machinery, Harvesters and both horse drawn & self propelled items
- Leather goods, saddlery, carpentry tools and equipment, toys, family history books and photos, and a whole lot more to come and take a wander through!
