Balladonia Heritage Museum

The Balladonia Heritage Museum is located in the Balladonia Hotel Motel complex.

They have spent years collecting interesting artifacts and curating a range of informative displays that give visitors an understanding of the local area and history. You can easily spend an hour or two rifling through the various exhibits and learning fun facts about this unique part of Australia.

The museum covers a range of interesting subjects including Aboriginal heritage, European exploration and settlement, Afghan cameleers, artifacts from settler’s life, the history of the Royal Flying Doctor Service, construction of the Eyre Highway, an around Australia car race and information about local flora and fauna.

The main focus of the museum is on the fiery re-entry of NASA’s (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Skylab space station in 1979 (which incidentally coincided with Balladonia’s centenary of settlement). The collection includes documents from NASA, a recreation of actual events, photos and related ephemera. There is even a life-sized replica of some of the debris sitting on top of their roof!

After leaving Norseman, Balladonia is one of the first stops travelling east. It is at the beginning of one of the longest, straight stretches of road in the world.