🌳 Pioneer Settlement

The Pioneer Settlement, in Swan Hill, Victoria, is Australia's first open-air museum, portraying life on the Murray in the era 1830-1930. It opened in 1966 as the Swan Hill Folk Museum, before being renamed, following a visit by the Queen in 1970. It contains approximately 50 replica buildings, including Masonic hall, coach-house, post office, photographic studio, original 1895 kaiserpanorama, and newspaper office. The collection also contains numerous tractors – including the first tractor ever brought to Australia – and historic vehicles, and two 19th-century riverboats, including the 1876 paddlesteamer PS Gem. This vessel was towed to the site in 1963, and is now a static display.