Open every weekend from Easter to Christmas. Opening Times: Saturdays 11am to 1pm and 2pm to 4.30pm; Sundays 2pm to 4.30pm
Past Exhibitions – from 1988
The Dollar Community and the Great War
Our exhibition in 2018 marked the 100th Anniversary of the ending of the 1st World War. We looked at the stories of local men and women who served in the forces and we examined how life was for those who stayed at home in Dollar.
On the home front, the Dollar community supported the war effort in many ways: for example, work parties knitted thousands of socks and other comforts for the troops, vegetables were grown for the Fleet, sphagnum moss was collected in the Ochils, and Belgian refugees and local troops were given hospitality. Summer Time, rationing, watering of beer and banning of penny buns were endured.
List of Exhibitions
- 1891-1991 (Centenary of Dollar becoming a Police Burgh)
- 19th Century Costume
- 19th Century Industries in Dollar
- 19th Century Samplers from Dollar Institution
- Academy Garden
- Adam Robson – Man of Many Parts
- Bookbinding
- Brewing, Taverns and Temperance in and around Dollar
- Broomrigg
- Castle Campbell
- Century of Dollar Farms, A
- Century of Housing Development in Dollar 1918-2018, A
- Children’s Millennium Ceramic Tile Project
- Churches in Dollar (150th Anniversary of building of Parish Church)
- Coggies Quaichs and Crusies
- Curling in Dollar
- Dewar Flasks
- Diamond Jubilee
- Dollar Academy 175th Anniversary
- Dollar Artists
- Dollar Bowling Club
- Dollar Community and the Great War, The
- Dollar Connections (Local Authors)
- Dollar District Churches Together
- Dollar Drama Club
- Dollar Fair
- Dollar Flood, The
- Dollar Ladies Golf Club Centenary
- Dollar Memories of the 2nd World War
- Dollar Primary School Class Photos
- Dollar Red Cross
- Dollar Shops – Past and Present
- Dollar Tennis Club
- Dollarbeg
- Esperanto exhibition by Bill Auld – local Nobel Prize for Literature nominee
- Fans
- Flowers Past and Present
- Football in Dollar
- Girls Guildry
- Greens the Hairdressers Centenary
- Harry Bell (Rector of Dollar Academy, Centenary of Birth)
- Hatches, Matches & Despatches
- History of Dollar – TimeLine
- History of the Mill Green
- Horticultural Society
- Japanese Gardens at Cowden
- ‘I, John McNabb’ (200th anniversary of death of founder of Dollar Academy)
- Landscapes of Dollar
- Local War Memorials (loan)
- Mansions and Castles around Dollar
- Maps of Old Dollar
- Marionettes from the 1940s
- Memories of the 50s
- Millennium Pictures
- Mining and Quarrying around Dollar
- Mining in Dollar
- Objects of Desire – Keepsakes and Collections
- Old Churches and Old Pewter
- Old Clocks and Clockmakers
- Old Dollar Revisited
- Old Postcards of Dollar
- Old Town / New Town
- One Hundred Years of Golf
- Praise and Punishment (at Dollar Academy over the years)
- River Devon, The
- Robert Burns in Dollar
- Romans in Dollar, The
- Schooling in Dollar
- Ship in a Bottle
- Six Generations at Dollar Academy
- Snuff Boxes
- Story of the Dollar Burn, The
- Then & Now (Old postcards compared with modern views)
- Tools of the Trade
- Toys of the Past
- Twinning with La Ville aux Dames
- Umbrella Maker’s Daughter, The
- VE Day in Dollar
- Views of Old Dollar
- William Kersley Holmes – World War I
- Witches and Witchcraft
- World War II in Dollar
Current Exhibitions
From prehistoric times to the present day, artefacts, documents and photographs illustrate the history of Dollar.
Our 2024 Exhibition
From prehistoric times to the present day, artefacts, documents and photographs illustrate the history of Dollar.
Our theme this year is on Dollar Shops – past and present. We also have our popular working model of Dollar Railway Station and Mine showing some underground workings – a fabulous exhibit. Local artists’ work is also being exhibited and you can trace our local history from the earliest of times along our Dollar History Time-Line. There’s plenty for adults and children, and our shop is open too!
Prehistoric
Local finds from Bronze Age burials on loan from the National Museums of Scotland give an insight into early inhabitants of the Hillfoots.
Last year’s Exhibition
After delays due to the Covid pandemic, Dollar Museum opened its doors in June 2021. As well as our permanent displays on the Devon Valley Railway, the Japanese Garden at Cowden, Prehistoric Dollar, Granny’s Kitchen, etc., we had a new presentation on Local Witches.
A new permanent feature is the Time-Line of Dollar History. This display extends round the entire exhibition area – some 25 metres – and transports you from geological times to the present day. In addition, there were displays on Floods in Dollar (Did you know that houses in East Burnside lost their fronts in 1877?), The Origin of the Place-name “Dollar” (We are often asked about this by visitors), Were the Romans in Dollar?, the History of the Dollar Academy Gardens (Did you know that Dollar Institution had a Botanic Garden and Nursery?) and Dollar Fair in Olden Times.
There was also a selection of objects from the Dollar Museum Collection. Among the chosen items were some connected to Castle Campbell and Local Churches (particularly interesting are the Communion Tokens) and a collection of artifacts illustrating local industries, such as Bleaching, Mining (coal and copper), and Brick- and Tile-making.
We were delighted to present a new exhibit – a working model of Dollar Railway Station, as it was shortly before it was closed by Dr Beeching. This has become a permanent exhibit.
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2019 Exhibition
A Century of Housing Development in Dollar, 1918-2018
The 2019 exhibition in Dollar Museum mapped the growth of housing developments in Dollar. Our main exhibit was a 1.5m2 street map showing the 33 major housing developments built in Dollar from 1918 to 2018. There were individual call outs for each development showing an enlarged street plan, relevant pictures, build dates, builders and cost. Extra pictures and documents for each of the developments were also available in folders.
There were 3 smaller displays looking at the history of the local authority developments since WWI, the objections to planning raised over the years and the story of the Museums involvement in the field research for the Gowan Lea build. Documentation from the exhibition will be archived for future access.
The Bicentenary of Dollar Academy
This display celebrates the 200th anniversary of the founding of Dollar Academy in 1818. It tells the story of the early years, starting with the part played by local boy, John McNabb, who made a fortune at sea and left half to Dollar Kirk Session for “a charity or school for the poor of the parish”.
Others who played important roles were:
- Rev. Andrew Mylne, the first Rector
- Craufurd Tait of Harviestoun
- William Playfair, architect
The result was a magnificent building containing a unique, co-educational, day and boarding school, which provided free or very cheap education for all local children, long before school attendance was universal.
