Wilcannia Athenaeum

Built in 1883 and located at 37 Reid St, the Athenaeum was established to be an institution for community education, a school of arts[a] and included a public library.

It has served a number of functions including as a social centre, a library, a newspaper office, a municipal council meeting place, the Wilcannia Telecentre and is now a museum.

A sandstone single-storey building in Victorian Free Classical style with a parapet and central semi-circular entablature with urns,[1] the style of the building reflects the aspirations of the residents of Wilcannia in an era when it was an administrative centre and the third largest inland river port in Australia.

[1] The original committee for the Athenaeum included Edward Bulwer Lytton ("Plorn") Dickens, the youngest son of Charles Dickens and Frederic Trollope, son of Anthony Trollope, who was responsible for ordering books for the town library.

[4] Walterus Brown, the editor of the short lived Wilcannia Times newspaper, published from 1874-1888, was a great supporter of the Athenaeum.