Take the time to explore the fascinating Burke Museum, one of Australia's best regional museums.
Originally built as the Beechworth Athenaeum in 1857, the museum houses a remarkable collection of objects, paintings, ceramics, textiles, photographs and other artefacts from the 1800's including the significant R.E. Johns collection of Aboriginal weapons and tools, a large collection of 19th Century native animal and birdlife taxidermy and the Street of Shops, a unique recreation of Gold Era Beechworth.
A new section of the museum, the Ned Kelly Vault, opened in the former Sub Treasury building of the Beechworth Historic Precinct in 2014. This collection is the most comprehensive of its type in regional Australia and includes the original death mask of Ned Kelly and numerous original items relating to the bushranger and his Gang.
The Burke Museum is named in honour of Robert O'Hara Burke, former Superintendent of Police, after his death at Coopers Creek in 1861 during the Burke and Wills expedition. The collection includes Burke's own bible, inscribed revolver and saddlebags used in the ill-fated expedition.
