Semaphore Cottage: Early colonial landmark reopened by Maritime Museum Tasmania

An unassuming cottage that played a huge role in Hobart’s early colonial days has reopened its doors, with a local museum unveiling a new interpretative centre at the site.

Camille Reynes museum curator Maritime Museum Tasmania at the cottage. Maritime Museum Tasmania is reopening The Semaphore Cottage in Battery Point and is the oldest surviving building in the area built in 1818. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

A key landmark in Hobart’s early colonial history has been reopened to the public as an interpretative site, giving people the opportunity to learn about the 200-year-old building’s role in relaying messages across the burgeoning colony.

Maritime Museum Tasmania officially reopened the Semaphore Cottage in Princes Park at Battery Point on Wednesday, marking the first time the historic building has opened its doors to the public in decades.

The cottage was built in 1818 and was Hobart’s first communications hub.

Maritime Museum Tasmania president Chris Tassell said the property was “a small building with a big story”.

Maritime Museum Tasmania is reopening The Semaphore Cottage in Battery Point and is the oldest surviving building in the area built in 1818. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

“Reopening the cottage to the public allows us to reconnect with a time when ingenuity and urgency shaped the way people communicated across great distances,” he said.

“We’re proud to share this important part of Tasmania’s history with new audiences.”

The Semaphore Cottage relayed long-distance communications via a semaphore telegraph system and connected Hobart to Port Arthur.

The cottage could relay messages across a 54-kilometre chain of semaphore stations within mere minutes.

It originally served as a guardhouse for the Mulgrave Battery, which was the city’s first defensive fortification.

The building was saved from demolition in the 1930s by the Shiplovers’ Society of Tasmania, in recognition of its heritage value.

Maritime Museum Tasmania is reopening The Semaphore Cottage in Battery Point and is the oldest surviving building in the area built in 1818. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Maritime Museum Tasmania is reopening The Semaphore Cottage in Battery Point and is the oldest surviving building in the area built in 1818. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

The new interpretative centre, which will be open for regularly scheduled tours, will effectively restore the cottage to its former glory as the headquarters of the colony’s semaphore telegraph system, which was highly advanced for its time.

Modern interpretative elements and historic artefacts will be on display, offering visitors a rare glimpse into the challenges associated with communication in Hobart’s early days.

The Semaphore Cottage was most recently leased by the Collection of Medical Artefacts (COMA). However, the Hobart City Council transferred the lease for the building to the Maritime Museum last year, with the support of COMA.

The lease will expire in May 2027.

Originally published as Semaphore Cottage: Early colonial landmark reopened by Maritime Museum Tasmania