Museum

Level 1 at the Hive
10am – 4pm daily

Image credit: Lyntje and Peter Fromberg strolling down the street, c. 1950s. Courtesy of the Fromberg family.

CURRENT EXHIBITION

A TOWN IS A TAPESTRY

19 October – August 2025

A Town is a Tapestry and every person’s story is a stitch. The Central Coast has 25 townships and a current population of around 22 000 people. For tens of thousands of years, the First Peoples have maintained long cultural connections with this Country. James Fenton is credited as the first European to settle in this area. He built a hut in 1844 in Forth and lived there until 1879. In that time, 1200 more settlers arrived, each with their own stories. Waves of migration brought people from all over the planet including from Britain and Ireland, China, Italy, and the Netherlands. Post-war eras were particularly rich times that brought new Tasmanians to the Central Coast.

This unique landscape of people’s stories is explored using objects and photographs from our collection in this exhibition with tales from Leith and Forth in the east, to Heybridge and West Pine in the west, to South Nietta and Loongana in the south, and to the Bass Strait to the north.

Stories will change in the exhibition throughout its run.

Community History Archive

Are you interested in learning more about local or family history on the Central Coast?

Visit our Community History Archive on Level 1 of Hive (see opening hours below), where our expert Museum volunteers are available to help with any and all family and local history enquiries – no enquiry is too large or too small.

If you are unable to visit Hive, simply download the Enquiry form below, fill out the details, and email to [email protected] or send to:

Community History Archive
Hive
PO BOX 220
Ulverstone TAS 7315

Research Enquiry Fees:

Research fee
$5 per enquiry
(limited to one topic of research, each subsequent topic also incurs a $5 fee)

Photocopying
$1 per page (no minimum)

Printing photographic reproduction(s) (through Readings Advertising)
Readings cost, plus $5 work fee

Commercial use fee $50 (Flat fee) plus a credit line.

Fees can be paid in person at Hive when lodging your research enquiry.

Featured Story

  • Image credit: Lyntje and Peter Fromberg strolling down the street, c. 1950s. Courtesy of the Fromberg family.

    Story Name

    Story sub text heading

    From 1987, ArtEx was a premier local art competition, run by the Rotary Club of Ulverstone West and the North West Art Circle, with the Central Coast Council as the major sponsor. The competition’s final year was 2023. This exclusive retrospective showcases the prizewinning works that form the Central Coast Council ArtEx Collection, highlighting the wealth of talent in our community.

    Democratic in spirit, the prize attracted artists at all levels of their practice from all over Tasmania and especially the North West. The prize provided a platform to celebrate their work and for audiences to experience the richness of local talent on display.

    The Central Coast Council ArtEx Collection is a lasting legacy of the vision of the competition’s co-founders Suzie Charleston and Adrienne Krist, for art to be appreciated and enjoyed whilst also providing important opportunities for artists at all stages of their creative practice.

Our Stories