The historic mirror-image properties, Grossmann and Brough houses in Maitland will have their first open house on Sunday.
This includes an exhibition of storyboards, photographs, memorabilia and recordings.
The exhibition features the Maitland Girls High School oral history project, with the memories of 15 women who were students or teachers at the school from 1937 to 1967.
In 1893, the NSW Department of Public Instruction (now the education department) took possession of the privately-owned Grossmann House [then known as Entcliffe] for 4709 pounds to establish the school. The first term began in 1894.
The building had classrooms, staff rooms, a sick bay and book room, with living quarters for headmistress Jeanette Grossmann, her mother and sister.
It was part of a larger high school precinct that educated up to 1000 girls.
In 1963, the high school moved to new, purpose-built premises in East Maitland.
It was renamed Maitland Grossmann High School in honour of the original headmistress.
Brough House became a hostel for boarders, operating from 1919 to 1969.
When the National Trust acquired the management of the two buildings, the Entcliffe building was later restored back to a typical Victorian merchant's townhouse and renamed Grossmann House.
It is now a "house museum" for the public.
Hourly tours at the Church Street properties begin at 10.30am on Sunday. The exhibition ends on March 13.
Bookings are available through Eventbrite. Entry is $10 (adults) and $8 (concession and children over 5).
National Trust members and children under 5 get free entry.
Call Holly for more information on 4933-3330.
Right Before Our Eyes
Barrington Top's Aussie Ark has posted an image of the Tasmanian tiger [also known as the thylacine] on social media to highlight vanishing species.
The post referred to Leonardo DiCarprio's Rewild project, which has published a list of "lost legends".
Aussie Ark said these legends were "not mythical creatures from fanciful folklore, though they may seem to be".
"They are incredible species that were prematurely driven to extinction, vanishing right before our eyes. Sure, we might consider their rediscovery to be a long shot but, even in their absence, lost legends generate more than hope. Their stories can help other species that have been pushed to the edge of extinction by reminding us what is at stake if we do not protect them.
"The thylacine, one of the lost legends, is a relative of the endangered Tasmanian devil."
Aussie Ark, spurred by the loss of the thylacine, has reintroduced devils to mainland Australia to help "rewild the continent and ensure the devils don't become lost legends themselves".
And just quietly, some believe the Tassie tiger might still exist deep in the Barrington.
