Murray Bridge & District Historical Society Inc. in Murray Bridge, South Australia | Landmark & historical place

Murray Bridge & District Historical Society Inc.

Locality: Murray Bridge, South Australia

Address: 31A Railway Terrace in Railway Reserve 5253 Murray Bridge, SA, Australia

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• Non-profit organisation
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27.01.2022 The Murray Bridge & District Historical Society would like to thank all our followers for their support during the year and wish everyone a Merry Christmas & best wishes for the New Year. We will be opening on the 18 Jan 2022. Photo : German Pyramid Christmas Tree made of wood with a fan at the top. The fan is spun by the warm air from lit candles, making the internal carousel in the centre turn.

21.01.2022 OUTBREAK OF PNEUMONIC INFLUENZA IN MURRAY BRIDGE How did this affect the district from January till December in 1919? When a young girl was diagnosed with pneumonic influenza; there was no area for isolating her so she was taken to the Exhibition Hospital North Terrace, Adelaide. When a young man who returned to Murray Bridge from Adelaide became unwell, Mr Allan McDonald his former employer made available a room in his home. A Doctor was called and diagnosed the young man ...with pneumonic influenza and also advised that Mr McDonald and his family had to leave their home, which became an isolation hospital. The Local Board of Health installed a nurse and quarantined the building placing yellow flags at all entrances, and police guarded the place. This had an obvious effect on the local residents. The Local Board of Health made many requests; The Station Master Mr R A Cilento closed the railway platform to the public when the Melbourne Express was standing in the station. Dr Macky with Sister Scott and Sister Young was one of the qualified medical persons that boarded the trains and carried out medical inspections of all the passengers (between 170 to 240 passengers) for the presence of pneumonic influenza. Tents were erected on the Show Ground for an isolation hospital should an outbreak occur. By March 1919 the Interstate Victorian border was closed, the Railway Commissioner advised it was useless to issue through tickets to travellers from Victoria as they would not be permitted to cross the border. The decision was made when Victoria had 2684 deaths and South Australia had 309 deaths. South Australia had to control its borders. River vessels were not without risks, having to fly the quarantine yellow flag with the presence of influenza. Many people in the district were stricken with pneumonic influenza including the local chemist, Mr F E Heddle, the Rev. W A and Mrs Terry from the Anglican Church, most recovered but unfortunately many died from this district. By December 1919 there were no new cases of pneumonic Influenza also known as the Spanish Flue. The total death toll in the States of Australia were; NSW 5870, Vic 3347, S. A. 504, Queensland 286, W. A. 338, Tas. 186 In 1919 shopping was a monthly outing when the flour, sugar and salt was purchased in large calico type bags, most families were somewhat self-contained with vegetable gardens, chooks, fruit trees and a cow that produced milk and cream that could be made into butter. Then there was the outdoor loo where the newspaper was cut or torn into small squares for the wiping of ones bottom. Everyone worked together to help control a deadly problem. See more

18.01.2022 TROUT IN THE LOCAL SWIMMING POOL Looking at the past we found many ways that communities worked together to raise money. Remember the street stalls along Bridge Street where homemade produce and donated goods were sold? These were very successful for the Queen competitions from the 1940’s onwards, fading around the same time labels were required noting contents of produce. There were Barn Dances, Fashion Parades, Mock Weddings and Old Time Dress Parades many put together ...Continue reading

17.01.2022 THE STORY OF PK MORRIS AND FAMILY Philbert Keith MORRIS opened a plumbing and iron workers shop in 1911 in Bridge Street. This was destroyed by fire at 3am on the 7th October 1912. As having the knowledge and understanding of horses and being the owner of race horses, when WW1 began he enlisted in active service in WW1 AIF at the age of 33yrs. He became one of the original members of the 9th Light Horse Regiment returning home in 1919. When he returned from the war he again ...started business and in 1921 a local paper advertisers PK MORRIS, as a plumber and iron galvanised worker making tanks, troughs, baths and bath heaters. On the 27th February 1925 he opened a motor garage alongside the plumbing shop. In the 1930’s it was the first garage to sell Shell petrol with electric pumps. During the 1930’s he constructed an iron clad building on the other side of Bridge Street No 1 on land leased from the railways. The site was situated on the top of hill left hand side before crossing the Bridge, where he sold 6 different brands of fuel, Ampol, Caltex, Golden Fleece, COR (BP), Mobil, and Shell. The building had a major facelift in the 1950’s, when Philbert’s sons Jim, Ralph and Murray also worked in the business. In 1955 Ralph’s son Lee Morris, began his apprentice as a mechanic, working with his grandfather, his father and two uncles. Philbert passed away in 1965 at the age of 82yrs. In 1977 Lee acquired the business with business partner J Bryan and became propriety of MORRIS’S GARAGE, mechanic & servicing vehicles, and BRYAN’S SERVICE STATION for petrol and lubrication. BRYAN’S SERVICE STATION closed in 1998. MORRIS’S GARAGE remained open until June 2002 the site was cleared August 2006. During this time the business was not without incidence. At one time a brand new Fairlane was parked on Bridge Street outside of the Hotel, unknown to the owner it travelled across the road and ran into the Ampol pump. The owner and Lee discovered this after an enormous bang. Another incident was when a car parked at MORRIS’S GARAGE left the scene and travelled down the hill, onto the bridge avoiding the concrete pillars and crashing into a stanchion. No one was hurt in either incident. Another family business that closed its doors. See more

05.01.2022 CHRISTMAS GREETINGS TO ALL Our volunteers are having a much needed break with their families until the 7th January 2020, but they would like to wish all our followers a Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year.

02.01.2022 RAILWAY PASSENGERS FOR MURRAY BRIDGE In 1886 the Steam train came into operation travelling from Adelaide to the Victorian border. Following many complaints of lack of service, a mixed train service of goods and passengers operated daily. Special trains started to operate and by 1908 passengers from Adelaide and Pinnaroo were transported to Murray Bridge for the Murray Bridge Agricultural & Horticultural Society bringing patrons to the show. Prior to 1931 for festival occ...asions special interest groups held picnics on Long Island, they would hire a steam train from Adelaide for the day and on arrival they would board a steam boat and travel to Long Island, returning by boat to catch the train back to Adelaide. Even the Railway workers enjoyed a day out with the railways. Once a year 800 Railway employees and their families would go on picnics to the city beaches they were conveyed by two special trains. The train would leave Tailem Bend at 6.55am, Monteith at 7.07am and Murray Bridge at 7.33am returning at the end of the day. As the Murray Bridge High School was the only secondary school in the area a special train would allow students to board at Tailem Bend, Wurton, Westbrook, Monteith, and Robilla railway sidings and return at the end of the school day, it was compulsory to carry and show their ticket/pass or they were not allowed on the train. The pass opened up like a butterfly displaying their identification and their designated railway siding. Boys had separate carriages from the girls. The boys account written by Gordon Milosevic in the Murray Bridge High School Magazine, after a reunion in 1988 stated among the other things The daily journeys were often filled with fun, frivolity and sometimes pain! There were water fights until the train officials stopped supplying paper cups and forgot to fill the water tank. The school service was operated from 1926 and ended 20 October 1969. Who can remember the toilets in the carriages and the rule of use? Students would travel by train to Adelaide for special occasions even when the Queen came to visit. In 1950 the End of Year High School picnic was held at the Belair National Park and the students travelled by special train leaving about 9am and arrived at the Park about ten. They spent the day there and arrived home about 3pm. Unfortunately the Murray Bridge Railway Station closed on the 14th January 1988; fortunately for passengers wishing to travel by train, the Overland will be available for another few months and the Railway Station platform will be used for passengers boarding and alighting. See more

01.01.2022 THE TAMING OF THE RIVER MURRAY Can you imagine how the lower section of River Murray was before the 1800’s; a much wider river only hemmed in by limestone cliffs on one side and rich pasture lands on the other. Since Charles Sturt navigated the River Murray in 1830 the River Murray has gone through many changes. In 1881 man made changes to the river had begun by the draining of swamps and the building of levee banks. Very valuable land was reclaimed for agriculture. Regretta...bly every summer the snakes would appear in hundreds, it was recorded in 1912 up to 90 snakes were killed in two hours on the Mobilong Swamps by Mr Gudge. This was the home for the black, brown, grey and tiger snakes and summer was when the river was at its highest driving the snakes to higher, dryer land. The Captains on River Steamers found it hard to navigate the river with the varying levels of water and being stranded upstream when the river was low. This caused long delays in river trade as the goods, mail and passengers could not be delivered, they had to wait until the rains came and the height of the river changed. Port Mobilong was the most convenient and accessible Port on the Murray. In 1915 a water sharing agreement was made between states to allow enough water for River Boats to continue trading between the other states and locks and weirs were built to improve the water flow. During this time willow trees were planted along the river banks to help support the banks at low river levels and help River Boat Captains navigate the River Channels. The willows survived in times of floods which were many. The highest floods known to white man were 1870, 1931 (115 feet), the highest in 1956 the river level was 120 feet. The Irrigation and Reclamation Department was formed in 1910 to control all waterworks along the river. The reclaimed areas below river level were gravity fed, land flooded and drained and water pumped back into the river. In 1929 reclaimed swamp lands were on both sides of the river, Swamp Settlements 10,000 acres for dairy farmers, orchards, vineyards and vegetable growing, watered by irrigation from the Murray. In 1914 the river was so low that salt water fish were being caught at Murray Bridge, the salt water killing the fresh water fish and causing a stench. Captain Arnold carted fresh water from 10 miles above Mannum for the Railways and for household purposes for Murray Bridge. 1934 was the start of Goolwa Barrage separating the River Murray from the sea. This was completed in the late 1930’s. Much has changed since those early times, we have a larger population than ever before, and water is required for survival. The river has told us many times through flood and drought it cannot be completely tamed. We will learn to use it wisely. See more