Paterson Historical Society

The Paterson Museum is located in the former Court House in the village and is open from 11.am to 3.00pm Sundays.

The Paterson Historical Society meets at 7.30pm on the first Thursday of each month except January. New members are welcome.

On 17 April 2013 the NSW Heritage Minister, Robyn Parker, announced that the Tocal College campus buildings had been listed on the State heritage register because of their uniqueness and architectural significance. "The 1965 Tocal College complex is a modernist masterpiece and one of Australia’s leading agricultural learning institutions, set in the grounds of one of the country’s oldest pastoral homesteads and a still thriving farming complex teaching new generations about agriculture," Ms Parker said.

"It takes inspiration from the colonial farm buildings of the original 1841 Tocal homestead, with carpentry detailing that emulates the craftsmanship of builders a century and a half ago. The soaring roof trusses of the hall have the grandeur of a Gothic cathedral and were inspired by the Tocal barn designed 100 years before by Colonial architect Edmund Blacket."

The College itself was designed by leading architects Philip Cox and Ian McKay in 1963 and won the prestigious Sulman and Blacket awards in 1965 and 1966. The Sydney Style, of which the College is an excellent example, was influenced by Gothic and Japanese architecture, but used local craftsmanship and local materials to create a new, and uniquely Australian, style of design.

A new book detailing the life of Herman Montague Rucker Rupp - The Orchid Man of Paterson - has been published by the Paterson Historical Society. Society member Val Anderson wonderful new book reveals the life of the Rev. Rupp and his passion for identifying and recording native orchards in the Paterson area.

His study of orchids took place while he was Rector of St Paul's Church of England at Paterson from 1924 to 1930. The book also contains interesting snapshots of the history of the Church of England in the Paterson Valley and records the more recent efforts of locals to retrace Rupp's steps, to find, identify and photograph the orchids he found six decades ago.

See the Publications page for more details.

Paterson Historical Society member Val Anderson has been awarded a Royal Australian Historical Society Certificate for her long and dedicated volunteer work in local history and to the Society.

The Society congratulates Val on receiving this most deserved award.

The Maitland Mercury from 24 November 2009 reported on the award as such:

Val Anderson would eat the dirt she walks upon if it brought her closer to the history of our land.

That’s how passionate she is.