The Tongarra Bicentennial Museum was opened in 1988. The Museum collection includes artefacts significant to the history of Shellharbour, and those that tell stories about the people and places of past and present. It features pioneering and historical exhibits such as the Victorian Automatic Sock Knitting Machine and Handmade Patchwork Quilt; a large collection of early maps and panoramic photographs of the Shellharbour Local Government Area and a bronze bust of Caroline Chisholm, who is known as 'The Immigrants' Friend', who helped to settle families in Shellharbour in the 1840s.
