Opening in 1925, Rocky Hill War Memorial tower was constructed with public funding on a site donated by local businessman William Bartlett. Dedicated to men and women from Goulburn and surrounding districts who served in WW1, the memorial continues to attract widespread community support.
Rocky Hill War Memorial Museum was established in 1927 to house an extensive collection of WW1 war trophies allocated to the city of Goulburn by the Australian War Office throughout the 1920s. The Museum was originally located in the basement of the war memorial tower. The Museum remained in the tower throughout the 20th Century and continued to collect war related objects during this time with larger objects in the collection housed offsite due to space limitations.
A Beacon light was installed on the roof of the tower in the 1930s as an aircraft navigational aid. On its’ decommission in the 1950s the beacon was purchased by Council and its nightly rotation across the city is now synonymous with the commemorative function of the tower. The tower was assessed in 2021 and considered of State significance given its rarity as a lookout accessed via an internal staircase.
An onsite cottage was constructed in the mid-1930s to house the caretaker of the memorial and museum and their families. A series of caretakers managed the site with support from Council throughout the 20th century, drawing their wages from admission charges and by providing refreshments to travelers and visitors to the site.
In 1999 the last caretaker resigned and the cottage was re-furbished as a museum and the entire collection was brought together and placed on display or in onsite storage. A dedicated group of volunteers assisted Council staff in cataloguing and caring for the collection for the next 20 years, during which time donations were encouraged and the collection grew substantially.
A new state of the art museum building opened alongside the cottage museum in 2020, more than doubling the exhibition space, the work area, and collection storage capacity. The museum and the collection continue to be managed by Goulburn Mulwaree Council staff and volunteers.
A more detailed history of the construction of the Rocky Hill War Memorial tower and the origins of the Rocky Hill War Memorial Museum was written by local historian, Steve Tazwell, in 1975 to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the opening of the tower.
