Port of Echuca Discovery Centre

The Port of Echuca Discovery Centre is a heritage museum and visitor centre on the Murray River at Echuca, Victoria, within the Shire of Campaspe. Located at the historic Echuca Wharf, it interprets Australia's largest 19th-century inland port and Murray-Darling river trade. The centre features interactive exhibits, riverboat history, and access to the restored wharf and paddle steamers, illustrating the region's transport and timber and wool trade heritage.

Visitors can expect an indoor museum with interactive exhibits on Murray River navigation, paddle steamer history and the 1860s Echuca Wharf, plus outdoor access to the historic wharf structure overlooking the Murray River. The setting includes restored wharf buildings, moored paddle steamers, interpretive displays, audio-visual presentations and a gift shop. Guided tours of the wharf are available and river cruises depart nearby. The precinct is compact and walkable along Murray Esplanade.

The Port of Echuca developed from 1865 with construction of the Echuca Wharf to serve Murray River trade. By the 1870s-1880s it was Australia's largest inland port, handling wool, timber and goods transported by paddle steamers along the Murray-Darling system, linked to Melbourne by rail in 1864. The wharf and associated river trade declined with rail and road transport but remains a preserved example of 19th-century river port infrastructure.

The centre preserves and interprets Murray River paddle steamer heritage and inland riverboat culture, and acknowledges the Yorta Yorta people as Traditional Owners of the Murray River Country around Echuca-Moama. It serves as a key cultural and educational site for river history in Victoria and New South Wales.