Download this brochure:

North Sydney Museum Trail (451KB)

to visit these local museums

• Don Bank museum
• St Thomas Rest Park
• Sexton's Cottage museum
• Mary MacKillop Place museum

Don Bank Museum

Don Bank is the oldest timber house in North Sydney.

Don Bank information brochure (4MB)

The Sydney Morning Herald on 20 October 1854 said it was:

A pretty marine villa with commanding views of Port Jackson.

Built in the first half of the 19th century, it was acquired by North Sydney Council in 1979 and converted into a local history museum, and is one of Council's premier historical sites open to the public. It is a rare example of an early timber slab house nestled in a remnant Victorian garden. Featuring the history of the house and its former occupants, Don Bank's displays focus on social history and our changing times.

Admission: free

Hours: Wednesdays 12-3pm & Sundays 2-4pm, February to mid-December (but Closed public holidays)

Address: 6 Napier St, North Sydney, 2060

Phone: 9936 8400

Hire Available for hire by community groups for regular meetings, read the information pack (6MB).

The following groups regularly meet at the museum:

• Live Poets at Don Bank www.facebook.com/livepoetsdonbank
  Fourth Wed of month, 7.30-10.30pm: 0422 263 373
• Lacemakers of Calais
  Third Sat of month, 1-3pm (quarterly): 9440 3334

Sexton's Cottage Museum

Sexton's Cottage, once used for laying out bodies prior to burial, was restored and turned into a museum in 1984. in 2017 it underwent undergone a major renovation. It houses resources for researching the history of the cemetery and those buried there. Exciting new attractions include a striking reproduction mourning dress and mourning jewellery.

Admission: free

Hours: Thursdays 1-4pm & Saturdays 2-4pm, February-December (but Closed public holidays). St Thomas Rest Park itself is open every day.

Address: 250 West St, Crows Nest

Phone: 9936 8400

St Thomas Rest Park

"Life and death on the north side."

Dedicated in 1848, St Thomas' Cemetery was the first burial ground on the North Shore. It was converted to a Rest Park in the 1970s. The Park contains interpretative signage for self-guided walks. Take a walking tour to some of the significant graves with these guides:

St Thomas Rest Park walking guide (2MB)

St Thomas Rest Park - Sailors, soldiers and civil servants (408KB)

View an A-Z index of burials: go to the Australian Cemeteries website

Search the St. Thomas' Cemetery: Headstones index

Mary MacKillop Place Museum

Since opening in 1995, Mary MacKillop Place Museum has been engaging visitors with an interactive display that recreates the story of Australia’s first Saint, Mary MacKillop and the co-founder of the order of the Sisters of St Joseph, Fr Julian Tenison Woods.