Rochester Historical and Pioneer Society president Kaye Speers, secretary John Foster and assistant secretary Dot Moon in front of the almost 150-year-old common school building. Photo: Aidan Briggs
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
Rochester Historical and Pioneer Society invites the community to its open day and 150-year celebrations for the common school building on Sunday, September 1.
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From 10am to 3pm, guests are welcome to check out the vast collection, with free admission and a range of activities on offer.
The kids will be entertained with old-fashioned games like marbles, dominoes, snakes and ladders, egg and spoon races and bean bag throwing.
“We’re going to have tea and coffee and biscuits,” Rochester Historical and Pioneer Society president Kaye Speers said
“We’ll have displays they can look through here (at the common school building).
“We’ll have the machinery shed open and they can see the jail.”
Rochester Historical and Pioneer Society will take you back in time with its displays.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
Posters for the event were designed by Rochester Secondary College Year 10 design students and have been put up around town.
Students from Rochester’s primary schools can also spot their colouring-in competition entries and letters from recent excursions around the site.
“We had the primary schools through and they wrote little letters back and thanked us,” Ms Speers said.
“We’re going to have them on display.
“That’s part of our role — as well as preserving, we’re educating.”
The common school building dates back to August 31, 1874.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
The common school building is the oldest brick building in Rochester, even pre-dating the railway station by a few months.
It officially opened on August 31, 1874, with 65 students starting under head teacher Richard Thomson.
The school closed in 1884, sitting vacant until it sold as a private residence to the Allgood family in 1892.
It once again sat empty for decades from the late 1910s before eventually being gifted to the society in 1969.
Since then, the building has been classified by the National Trust and has received government and community grants for its restoration and upkeep, particularly following flood damage in 2011 and 2022.
The society has been unable to host any open days since the October 2022 floods, so residents may not have seen the site in some time.
There have also been significant additions to the historical society’s collection, with residents finding and donating items during their post-flood cleans.
“One thing the flood has done: they’re all cleaning up and they’re all finding stuff that they don’t want,” Ms Speers said.
“So they bring it in to us and we’re happy to take it.
“There’s trophies, photos, books, handwritten recipe books, just bits and pieces.”
The collection includes a range of sporting achievements from Rochester teams.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
Ms Speers encourages the Rochy community to head along on the day to see the extensive collection and enjoy the old-fashioned games and activities.
“We have people coming through and they say, ‘we didn’t realise that you’ve got all of this stuff and it’s so good’,” she said.
“We have people coming from out of town and researching, but we’re trying to get the residents (in).”
The committee have put together a 2025 calendar filled with historic photos from the Rochester area. They will be for sale on the day.
Annual membership is also available for $10 and can be bought or renewed by August 31.
Rochester Historical and Pioneer Society open day and common school building 150-year celebration is on Sunday, September 1, from 10am to 3pm at 96-98 High St, Rochester.
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