Doll Museum

This private doll collection was opened for public display in 1999. It has just over 3,000 items set out in three sections.  This includes dolls, teddies, toys, and other childhood memorabilia.  Whilst the oldest dolls are from the 1890s, most of this collection concentrates on the 1920s to modern times. Hundreds of "celebrity" dolls bring back memories of your favourite films, television shows, novels and history.

River Dolls of Goolwa was the first Australian doll museum to be promoted by the American doll magazine DOLL READER. River Dolls of Goolwa was awarded the Fleurieu Peninsula 2000 Tourism Award for best new tourism development.

We have several doll's houses in our display. Each house took hundreds of hours of work to construct. One stunning building was lovingly created in 1981 by Mr Keith Botten and furnished by his wife, Dawn. Another was completed by Bryan Henderson using material purchased weekly from the newsagent.  From time to time we have a special display like our successful Royal Display. We now have a collection of FASHION DOLLS on display. DON'T MISS IT!

You can enjoy One Child's Collection which is now part of our range of displays. It represents the dolls owned by a little girl growing up in Australia during the late 1950s and early 1960s. 

The Fleurieu Railway Operators Group (FROG) have a working train set available for visitors to operate.   There's something for every member of the family - even Dad!  Everything in this air-conditioned building is set out on one level making it wheelchair friendly.

When you visit us in Goolwa, make sure that you allow time to visit the museum.  You can see how extensive the collection is if you do your research beforehand via Google. Just type in "River Dolls of Goolwa" into a Google search engine and select the "See photos" link.  This is a new facility offered from February 2018.