The Loxton Historical Village — Attraction in Loxton

We went to Loxton Historical village this past long weekend whilst camping in Loxton Caravan Park and I have to say that hubby and I had an absolute ball . We were first greeted by a lovely long time volunteer there named Julie and she was just so lovely and bright and extremely passionate about this amazing attraction that she had worked at for 8 years. After telling us briefly about some village history and housekeeping, we set out to explore the amazing little town of yesteryear that awaited us outside. All the buildings were accessible and in most buildings there was automated voice recordings telling you about the history of that building and where it came from, what year etc in some of the shops there were interactive buttons to push to see certain things move or for recordings to begin. There were plenty of photo opportunities like at the old police station/ Goal there were stocks and you could go in them and take your photo. There was also a large family character mural with holes in the faces where you could put your face in and have a photo taken. There was the old original hut of William Loxton. A Train station, Bakery, printing press, cabinet maker, Fire Brigade,Gaol, School, General store( filled with age old food and smoke products of yesteryear. A Barber a mechanics and car sales, stables, barns with old style tractors and farming machinery. An Institute an underground cellar, a blacksmith and so very much more. It was like a mini sovereign hill . There are clean toilets and a nice picnic area if you want to bring lunch and make a day of it. There is a small shop that besides selling ice creams and cold drinks sells locally made sauces and relishes to which we bought quite a few and they were incredible and very reasonably priced. There was also Artwork by local Riverland Artists including beautiful cards drawn by the very talented and lovely volunteer there Julie. This place is wonderful and all ages would enjoy it We highly recommend it and give...

The Village, situated on the shaded banks of the mighty Murray River, was established in 1970 and it’s aim has been to preserve memorabilia, paper based records, photographs, books, artefacts, machinery and buildings as well as other elements of the district’s history.

The site was selected because of its close proximity to Loxton’s Pepper Tree (and there is more than one version of the story of the Pepper Tree.) It is believed to be thought that the tree was planted after the time the original Loxton’s Hut was occupied by William Charles Loxton.

William Charles Loxton was a boundary rider on Bookpurnong Station and a horseman of some note. William lived here with his wife from 1878-1881 in the modest pine-and-pug hut formerly occupied by his aunt, Mrs Howell, and her husband. The area around this hut was known as ‘Loxton’s Hut’ and eventually, just ‘Loxton’. Part of the termite-damaged Pepper tree collapsed in 1997 after a severe windstorm.

In 2006 the District Council of Loxton Waikerie established a section 41 committee, known as the Loxton Historical Village Management Committee, to manage the museum and make recommendations to the council on the running and development of The Village.

The Village has been a regional and State award-winning tourist attraction, recognised for its high quality displays, marketing activities, presentation and customer service.

The Village boasts a dedicated team of approximately 50 volunteers (many of whom have been involved since its establishment), a caretaker/cleaner, shop staff and a part time manager.

Introduce yourself to The Village pets; Jenna , our resident Red Kangaroo and Ebony, Bibby and Bubby, all...

We visited on Tuesday and enjoyed our visit! We were greeted by Julie (I believe that was her name) who was lovely and very welcoming. She provided us with a map to be able to follow around the village. The village has a great collection of antiques and memorabilia.

I particularly liked the fact that each building had an audio from a local who had first hand experience with the building or time period.

The village is well maintained and such a great collection of history. You can see the staff and volunteers clearly pour their hearts into the village. They also have a delightful little gift shop where you can buy local souvenirs and handmade crafts.

As an added perk it's dog friendly.

Definitely worth a visit if you're in the area, there's something...