Coaltown Museum is an interactive heritage museum that appeals to all age groups. . The West Coast’s identity is forged in a mine. Mining, pounamu (greenstone jade), gold, coal or timber, the West Coast’s economy is based on extradition. Original mining machinery can be kick started into life with a push of a button, there is an authentic full sized replica of a mining tunnel evocatively recreating life underground and numerous personal stories of life as a miner or miners family on the Denniston Plateau.
Mining sites such as Denniston, Millerton, Stockton and Seddonville are captured with photographs, memorabilia and artefacts. The museum is also the home to the Westport visitor information centre making the centre an excellent start to your West Coast holiday.
WHAT TO DO WITH KIDS
Get the kids to watch the interactive clips of the Denniston incline with its terrifying almost vertical drop. Coal miners will talk directly to the audience. Lots of buttons to push, whirl and a darkened replica coal mine tunnel to enter.
