The Maclean Bicentennial Museum is one of very few purpose-built museums in rural Australia. The excellent design enables visitors to easily understand and enjoy the range of special displays.
There are delightful replicas of an early school room and an early hospital ward plus many regularly changing exhibitions. The museum offers a very interesting insight into early Australian lifestyles and the experience extends well beyond the boundaries of the Clarence River.
The Stone Cottage, in the same grounds, was built by Johann George Schaefer after 1879 using sandstone quarried from the site. It became the local museum in 1973 and since the opening of its big brother in 1988 it has been returned to a "living history" replica of a typical home from the turn of the century. It contains many working models.
