Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
Posted On November 26, 2009
The Powerhouse Museum, Sydney is most important branch of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences located in Sydney. The other museums are merely Sydney Observatory. The powerhouse museum has a huge gathering encircling all type of technology including Media, Decorative arts, Space technology, Communication, Science, Furniture, Costume, Steam engines, Computer technology and the transport. The collection is displayed for nearly 125 years. There are about 400000 artifacts displayed in the museum since the year 1988. The electric tram power station which lies in the suburban area of Ultimo in the inner west are is what the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney is more famous for. Originally it was constructed in the 
year 1902. It is one of the most popular tourist’s attractions in Sydney. The museum publishes a quarterly magazine named Powerline is available at the museum also it is sent to all the members free of cost.
The Sydney International Exhibition of 1879 gave birth to the Powerhouse Museum. Few of the exhibits that were placed in this event were held back to make a new and original collection for the Technological, Industrial and Sanitary Museum of New South Wales. The museum was expected to have an exhibition of these items in a new building and was to be known as Garden Palace. Garden Palace was later damaged by the fire which took place in the year 1882 and in the month of September. Unfortunately the museum required to share the place of its exhibition with the Sydney Hospital’s morgue. The museum moved in the year 1893 in the month of August on its new location on the Harris Street. It was named as Technological museum. The museum also included the Sydney Observatory in the year 1982. The museum moved to Old Ultimo Powerhouse, 500 Harris Street which is its current location in the year 1988. The museum got its new name from its location.
One of the most unique items kept in the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney is the world’s the oldest operational rotative steam engine. Few items which dated 1785 which were made by Watt and Boulton are found in the exhibit. Also there are handful items of London Brewery that belong to 1888. The unique engine is declared by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers as the Mechanical Engineering Landmark in the year 1986. Another important item was the Locomotive No 1 which was made in Robert Stephenson in the year 1854. Locomotive No 1 was the first steam locomotive that was used in the New South Wales. The Strasburg Clock Model is the most debatable as well as the most popular among all the exhibits in the museum. The model was made by Richard Smith, a 25 year old watchmaker from Sydney. The model is been inspired from the Strasbourg astronomical clock in Strasbourg Cathedral which is located in Strasbourg. Smith had never got a chance to visit the original model but he made the model based of the picture and the information he got through a pamphlet. The Powerhouse Discovery Centre which is located at Castle Hill was opened for the general public to visit on 10 March 2006.
