Melbourne’s eastern suburbs share a colourful history across a range of professions, hobbies and passions. Here are some of the best places dedicated to celebrating and preserving the past.

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Heide’s beginnings date back to 1934, when art collectors John and Sunday Reed purchased a 16-acre dairy farm. Its name pays tribute to the nearby suburb of Heidelberg and the impressionist painters from the Heidelberg School of Australia.

The museum features modern art galleries and historic buildings, such as a 19th century farmhouse and the Reeds’ second residence – a modernist dwelling built between 1964 and 1967. There is also a large outdoor sculpture park and heritage gardens.

Where: Banksia Park, 7 Templestowe Road, Bulleen

Built and opened in 1916, the former Hawthorn Tram Depot now operates as the Melbourne Tram Museum, featuring 20 fully-restored trams you can jump in and a range of memorabilia and historical displays.

Highlights include Melbourne's oldest surviving electric tramcar and the Karachi W11 tram decorated by Pakistani artists for the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

The museum is open to the public on the second and fourth Saturday of every month (except for December, when it is only open on the second Saturday), as well as select Wednesdays.

Where: 8 Wallen Road, Hawthorn

A group of retired ambulance officers started the Ambulance Historic Society of Victoria in 1986 to collect and maintain old vehicles and equipment.

The society opened its first physical location Thomastown in 2006, with the museum then moving to its current location in Bayswater in 2015. 

In conjunction with Museums Victoria, the society has catalogued more than 3,000 items, including 30 ambulance vehicles from throughout the years, including cars, bikes and skidoos.

The museum in Bayswater is open to the general public on the last Sunday of each month from 10am to 2pm, with other visits or group tours available by appointment only.

Where: 1/55 Barry Street, Bayswater

Beginning as the Waverley City Gallery in the late 1970s, the collection had a broad focus across all mediums.

In 1984, the gallery launched a specific collection of Australian photography, with the current Wheelers Hill location opened in 1990.

The exhibition tracks the history of Australian photography from the 19th century to today across more than 4,500 pieces.

Where: 860 Ferntree Gully Road, Wheelers Hill

In 1996, a group of Australian jazz musicians, collectors and fans got together to launch the Victorian Jazz Archive after fear was rising that the country’s jazz history would be forgotten.

Changing its name to the Australian Jazz Museum, the collection now features more than 34,000 items, ranging from jazz recordings across a range of storage media – including CD, vinyl and cassette tapes – to photographs and books.

The museum is open on Tuesdays and Wednesday from 10am to 3pm.

Where: 15 Mountain Highway, Wantirna

Prussian immigrant Johann August Schwerkolt purchased 63 acres in Mitcham in December 1861 and started work on building a six-room stone cottage in 1864.

After he and his family moved to the Mitcham property in 1865, they developed a farm including an orchard, wine-making and quarrying and eventually increased the land to 88 acres. Construction on the three-room stone cottage – which is still standing to this day – began in 1885.

Filled with furnishings from the 1880s, the cottage now serves as an educational space, showcasing how the first settlers lived.

The Whitehorse Historical Society operates at the grounds, with the cottage and museum is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 4pm, as well as on public holidays (excluding Good Friday and Christmas Day).

Where: 2-10 Deep Creek Road, Mitcham

Fewer than a dozen engineering history enthusiasts launched the club in 1963. Now, the group boasts about 220 members, including more than 160 volunteers who maintain the machinery on site at the Melbourne Steam Centre in Scoresby.

Featuring more than 400 engines and other pieces of equipment across its warehouses and outside, the club hosts a wide range of old pieces of machinery, including steam rollers and marine pumps, such as the Lyttelton II Steam Tug engine.

The centre is open from 11am to 3pm on Thursdays and from 11am to 4pm on Saturdays and Sundays, with full run days – where volunteers fire up the featured engines – on the fourth Sunday of every month. The club’s annual flagship event – Scoresby Steamfest – will run from Saturday March 6 to Monday March 8 next year.

Where: 1200 Ferntree Gully Road, Scoresby

Thumbnail Image Credit: Melbourne Steam Centre/Zachary Snowdon Smith (australianjazz.net)