The History House Museum, housed in the heritage-listed former council chambers on Gresson Street, is the local-history archive for Grey District. The collection runs heavily to mining — coal and gold — and to the boom-and-bust 19th-century rush that built (and emptied) most of the smaller West Coast towns.
The photographic archive is the highlight: hundreds of original glass-plate images of Greymouth, Brunner, and the surrounding goldfields from the 1870s onward, many showing settlements that have completely vanished. The museum is small (allow an hour) and run by enthusiastic volunteers; opening hours are limited, so call ahead in the off-season.