History House is Portland's main local history museum, documenting the town's role as the site of Victoria's first permanent European settlement. The Henty family arrived in 1834 — a full year before John Batman's expedition to Port Phillip — and established a pastoral and trading operation that predated Melbourne entirely. The museum uses photographs, documents, and artefacts to tell this story alongside the broader development of the port and the whaling industry.
The collection includes items from the whaling era, when Portland was one of Australia's most active stations, and material relating to the pioneer families who shaped the district in the nineteenth century. The heritage streetscape of Portland itself is an extension of this history; over 200 buildings from the colonial period survive, many on the flat streets near the waterfront.
The museum is volunteer-run and reflects genuine community engagement with local heritage rather than a polished commercial attraction. It provides useful context for walking the town's heritage streets afterwards.