Visit the Kowie Museum
The Museum is open on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 09h30 to 12h30. It will be open on Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and Easter Monday (every day from Thursday, March 28 2024, to Monday, April 1 2024, inclusive). The entrance fee is R20 for adults and R10 for children.
The Kowie Museum, a testament to the unwavering dedication of its volunteers, opened its doors on December 15, 1982.
The Kowie Museum proudly holds a full membership in the esteemed South African Museums Association (SAMA), a testament to its credibility and commitment to preserving Port Alfred’s rich history.
The primary collections cover the following:
- Arrival of the 1820 Settlers
- isiXhosa Collection
- Navigation of the Kowie River
- Shipwrecks in the river and ocean around Port Alfred
- Portrait Gallery of our Mayors
- Railways
- Our Bridges
- Historical Books
- Tools and equipment
- Egg Cup Collection – some of it is in the Royal St Andrews Hotel, but the rest is in the Museum
- Shell Collection
- Insect Collection
- Development of the Royal Alfred Marina
- Furniture, Dolls Houses, models of buildings
Origins of the Kowie Museum
The creation of a Kowie Museum at Port Alfred was first envisaged by Ted Morse Jones, who included this objective as one of the aims of the Lower Albany Historical Society when it was constituted in July 1958.
The Kowie Museum might not have happened without the boundless energy of Don Monro, the first curator.
