Paynesville Maritime Museum Inc.

Located on the Gippsland Lakes, Paynesville is an old fishing town where steamers called for fish and freight. The largest of the steamers on the Lakes were built and maintained at Paynesville.

Paynesville Maritime Museum is a specialist heritage organisation dedicated to recording the maritime history of Paynesville. It has a program of research and dissemination of information to help succeeding generations understand the Paynesville story.

Coverage includes the steamers that once plied the Gippsland Lakes and provided transport of passengers and goods before the railway, the fisherman of Paynesville who were major suppliers of fish to the Melbourne markets and the later developments to a recreational boating precinct.

The monthly open day at the PMM museum sees a mix of new and returning visitors interested to learn more about Paynesville’s maritime heritage. Entry is free so as to encourage a wider understanding of the history of the Lakes.

In addition the museum has been instrumental in the installation of a series of 14 interpretive signs forming a maritime heritage trail along the Paynesville foreshore, making for a pleasant and educative walk through history available 24/7.

Research is underway to record the Paynesville story from older residents and by reference to the newspapers of the time so that it will not be lost.

New members are welcomed.

The museum is open every second Sunday morning of each month (coinciding with the Lions market).

Local attractions:

  • Waterfront Maritime
  • Heritage Trail Signs
  • Fishermans Wharf used by Steamers and Fishing Boats
  • Paynesville Slipyard and Historic Winch House
  • Fishermen’s Cottages, Langford Parade
  • Mitchell River Silt Jetties,
  • Eagle Point
    Compass Swinging Piles, Eagle Bay
  • Old Paynesville Hotel c1890
  • Paynesville Cemetery gazetted 1897

Office: 6/55 The Esplanade, Paynesville
Museum: Gilsenan Reserve, Paynesville
Phone: 03 5156 0852
Email: enquire@pmm.org.au
 www.pmm.org.au