Through our collection we aim to provide a comprehensive look at local history for the Raglan Whaingaroa area and adjacent districts.

The area has been inhabited for nearly a thousand years. In the dunes to the north of Raglan Harbour, stone adzes, and spears dating from around 1100 have been found. About 300 years later Rakataura and 9 others from the Tainui canoe discovered the harbour and called it Whangaroa - Long Harbour, or 'the long pursuit', but was later renamed Whaingaroa to avoid confusion with another Whangaroa. By the time Europeans came, Tainui villages were dotted along the coast and shores.

In the early 1830s a few Europeans settled among the natives at Whaingaroa. In 1850 Chief Te Awaitaia, acting for the Ngati Mahanga sold 19,680 acres to the Government allowing European settlement to proceed. In 1858 Whaingaroa was renamed Raglan. The town grew slowly supported initially by flax and timber exports, then by farming and now by tourism, the arts and surfing.

Our exhibits cover Maori, settler, farming, surf life saving, art, natural science, photography and town life history. The museum is proud to hold the taiaha of Te Awaitaia, prominent Ngati Mahanga chief and Treaty of Waitangi signatory. The museum is working in co-operation with local iwi to further develop these themes.

Much of the collection illustrates domestic, rural and town life in Raglan, mainly during the early twentieth century. Items of interest include the doors from the Raglan jail, the first telephone exchange switchboard, the first surf life saving reel and an extensive collection of pharmacy items used by T. B. Hill, the town’s first chemist. There is an extensive photographic collection and many early copies of the town’s newspaper, The Raglan County Chronicle.

The Raglan Museum was established in 1966 in a room in the Raglan Town Hall, moving to its present home in the old fire station building in 1984. Planning is currently underway for a new building to allow more of the collection to be on display.