great cobar heritage centre

We only allowed for an hour or so but found we spent over half the day soaking up the history of Cobar. Well worth the admission and time.

The red town or copper town encapsulates in New South Wales the beginning of the outback innards. The long way via Dubbo (and from there on) from Sydney takes us through minimalist eucalyptus to almost spinifex and saltbush minima especially after that heading towards Broken Hill. The amazing thing with Cobar is the copper activity cum livestock which characterized and still does the economy of that area. Less copper now and a fine winter evening light along the central street of the town where the Heritage Centre greets the visitor upon entrance offering the finest informational assortment. A mining town distant back with interest for the cultural anthropologist. An open mine retains an overwhelming monumentality at the edge of the town almost with kangaroos hoping in the greeneries. The lacing of the Great Western Hotel is a monument. Food and accommodation at the Great Western or the Country Motor Inn.Australia is the land of the Motels (US and Canada too) Best value and very spacious

Excellent overview of Cobar's history - good mix of mining history and personal anecdotes. Interesting displays.

Almost every town in Oz has a museum that celebrates the local history and kin. This is one of the better ones. Recommended.

The last time we drove thru Cobar at 2am we decided to pull over here at the Cobar Heritage Centre's carpark & sleep the few hours til morning thinking it would be one of the few safe places in town. The parking area is clean & just off the main highway however we were hearing weird noises all around us. In the middle of the desert this scenario can be terrifying-times a hundred! Clutching a large dirty boot & a rock melon as lame weapons I went outside & soon realised the noise was coming from speakers that were playing weird music. In the city, some councils do this to detract local youths & hoons from loitering in an area, needless to say it drove us away. The Great Cobar Heritage Centre is housed in the former admin building of the Great Cobar Copper Mining Company from 100 years ago. Cobar was a major mining town back in the day so this Visitor Information Centre also houses a mining museum with lots of mining paraphernalia, Aboriginal artefacts from the local Ngemba & Wongaibon tribes & local history. Apparently some white fellas named the town Cobar after sussing out local Aborigines who were using some interesting red pigments to paint their bodies for corroborees which they called ‘gubar/kubbur’. Looking at each other as if Michael Jackson just walked into the room & slapped them with a wet fish they realised it was copper ore & lots of it. Boom-Boom-Pow – a town is born. Unfortunately the only other time we were in town we were trying to outrun some cops so we didn’t get a chance to poke around too long but honestly we didn't really feel the urge to pay a fee to look at this stuff. We did pick up a map here, looked at the souvenirs & enjoyed a break in the sun under the clear skies….all free. You definitely need a stretch after racking up the 300 kms from Dubbo & it is a good clean place for a pit stop at the clean facilities. Just down the road at the intersection of the Barrier Highway & Louth road was the New Occidental Hotel which was still open at 2am on a Saturday morning, it seemed pretty rowdy, with the music turned up, might be a good place to find a cold drink & a pub brawl.

Museum was most informative and well worth the visit. You need a good hour. The staff were great and a special mention to the young lady - Sam - who assisted us. Full of great & helpful information delivered with professionalism and a highly infectious bubby personality.

A fantastic rural museum. Plots the history of Cobar and it's people, very informative. Staff (Cathy) full of knowledge about the history of Cobar. Don't leave town without spending an hour or two here.Mal and Helen G

AS usual, a Towns Information Centre is the first stop when entering , for all the must Do's and a town map so the "Navigator" can get us to a Van park. Great Staff who circled our van park lookouts and items we inquired about. The Museum was most informative and well presented.Worthy of a visit.

just a good potted history of the area.The attention to detail of the mining exhibits was excellent.

A great little museum full of treasures from Cobar's history. Some very good contributions from the local mining companies. Staff here are friendly helpful. Souvenirs available from the shop.

The Heritage Centre is an excellent facility to explore the mining history of Cobar and surrounding areas. A great exhibition of the early mining days through to the current mining activities and practices. Don't miss a walk out to the edge of the open cut mine. The staff is also very helpful and skilled at research of family history information.

We had driven from Dubbo and stopped for a leg stretch at the Cobar Heritage Centre. We learnt so much about Cobar and the surrounding area while these. The history of Cobar and it's mines was really interesting and the Heritage Centre attendant was so knowledgeable and friendly. A pleasure to hear the stories and see the hundreds of exhibits. Well worth the stop for a few hours, before continuing on our journey!

It will cost you a small amount to go in here but it is well worth it if you want to learn a bit about the history of Cobar and it's mining.

We thought the entrance fee was quite pricey for a local museum but it allows you to go back the following day to really enjoy the enormous amount of information on offer. Every thing was very well presented and organised and the staff were helpful and friendly.

Loved the museum of Cobar there. Especially the outdoor area with the open-cut mine. A lot of interesting local history, and artefacts.