Northcliffe Pioneer Museum Incorporated
The Northcliffe Pioneer Museum Incorporated is a nonprofit organisation dedicated to preserving the history of Northcliffe, Western Australia, particularly focusing on the Group Settlement Scheme of the 1920s. Established to commemorate the resilience of early settlers, the museum holds an extensive collection of artifacts, photographs, and archival materials documenting the region's pioneering era.

History and Collections
The museum's origins are tied to Northcliffe's 1924 Group Settlement Scheme, which brought 2,000 settlers to establish dairy farms amid dense forests. Harsh living conditions and infrastructure challenges led to widespread hardship, with many families enduring years in rudimentary shacks[4]. The museum preserves this history through relocated historical buildings, including the original Group 121 bush school, a teacher’s cottage, and hospital memorabilia[1][5].

Key holdings include domestic and agricultural tools used by settlers, a photographic archive of family life in the 1920s, and machinery such as a 1916 International Harvester portable engine[1]. The George Gardner Collection features Indigenous tools dating back 8,000 years, fossils estimated at 3 billion years old, and over 1,200 geological specimens. Gardner’s photographic record of native wildflowers in the region is also displayed[3][4].

Exhibitions and Activities
The museum reconstructs pioneer living conditions through relocated structures like the R&I building, which houses exhibits on Northcliffe’s timber industry, and a mill cottage showcasing Gardner’s collections[1][4]. Photo books derived from its archives provide accessible insights into settler life, including images of local fraternal organisations such as the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes[4].

Governance
As an incorporated nonprofit, the organisation focuses on community engagement and historical education. It collaborates with researchers and descendants of settlers to expand its archival resources[2][5].

[1] http://www.northcliffe.org.au/museum_tour/pioneer_museum.html [2] https://www.acnc.gov.au/charity/charities/bb120b27-cb0a-ec11-b6e5-00224810b30c/documents/ea1b4a1b-7f2e-ed11-9db1-002248122521 [3] https://www.canberra.edu.au/anme/our-collection/anme-members/northcliffe-pioneer-museum [4] https://visitwanderland.com.au/explore/south-west/northcliffe-pioneer-museum [5] https://southernforestsandvalleys.com/operator/northcliffe-pioneer-museum/