The Wilsons Creek, Huonbrook, & Wanganui Historical Record | Community

The Wilsons Creek, Huonbrook, & Wanganui Historical Record

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25.01.2022 Mills Farm, near the present day Kohinur Hall, in Upper Main Arm, probably around the 1920s. Looks like a bomb has hit the place. More likely, this is a scene from after a burn-off, clearing land for farming. Apart from this being a great mood-photo, I chose this picture today because ironically the road is in better condition in this shot, nearly 100 years ago, than it is in Upper Wilsons Creek today.... Sad but true.

23.01.2022 Today we remember those brave and adventurous ANZACs who sailed off into the unknown 100 years ago. What awaited them on the other side of the world was most probably quite different from anything they could have expected when they signed up at recruiting stations all over Australia & New Zealand. Quite a few of our local boys signed up at Mullumbimby Post Office, and many of them didn't return. It is in their honour, and in the memory of all of those who served on those di...stant and hostile shores, that we dedicate this post. Please take some time next week to visit our new ANZAC display, lovingly prepared by volunteers at Mullumbimby Museum. You will recognise our wonderful museum as being the very same post office that features in these photos. Blessed be, and Rest in Peace.

22.01.2022 https://youtu.be/u4hf6PYOJ3s

22.01.2022 This is a story about two of Wilsons Creek's own lads, Bob Laverty (of the Laverty Farm) and Tom Bower (of Pulpit Hill). In the 1920s, they did a voyage of discovery down what became known as the Clarence River in a small canoe that is now on display in Mullumbimby Museum. This film documents their pioneering journey. Enjoy.

20.01.2022 Another classic video from our archives for your viewing pleasure. This one is entitled, The Ocean Shores Building Development - Reg Byrnes Slide Collection (BVHS) Old time resident of Brunswick Heads Reg Byrnes talks us through his comprehensive collection of slides chronicling the building development of Ocean Shores, NSW.... A nice touch is the Pat Boone track 'He's Got The Whole World In His Hands' over the front & end title sequences. Pat Boone was a major investor in the Ocean Shores development, and visited the site as part of it's publicity drive. Enjoy, and please also check out the other videos on the BVHS Channel.

18.01.2022 The original Mullumbimby sign during construction in 1965, and in its current location in the grounds of Mullumbimby Museum today. It is known as 'Tuckett's Tomahawk', after local chemist Stan Tuckett who was president of Rotary at the time of its construction. The whole project was financed by Rotary's half acre patch of potatoes behind the high school. Yet another fine example of the Mullumbimby municipality's self-sustaining nature.

16.01.2022 More wonderful history about the HEP plant at Laverty's Gap.

11.01.2022 Empire Day (24th May) 1909, at Wilsons Creek Hall.

11.01.2022 Wilsons Creek School's Golden Jubilee, on September 13th 1958. Former & current pupils gather to celebrate the school's 50th year. Among those present were some of the original pupils from 1908.

10.01.2022 We are often asked about the origins of our local place names. Here is some of the information that we have, which is by no means definitive. Wilsons Creek is thought to have been named after Tom Wilson, an early cedar-getter. Nothing is known of him, except that he was not the same Wilson that the river is named after. The Wilsons River is named after a large pioneering family of Lismore.... Wanganui, after European settlement, was owned by Mr James Newberry. Child relatives of his visited the property and thought of it as being 'the end of the world'. The name 'Wanganui' was said to have been given the property by one of those children, after the place in New Zealand which translates in Maori as 'big harbour'. Huonbrook was originally known as Coopers Creek. On 6th June 1928, W.G.Maxwell of the Huonbrook-Wilsons Creek Progress Association wrote to the inspector of schools in Murwillumbah advising that a meeting of the association held the previous night had voted to change the school's name to 'Huonbrook'. Initially it had been opposed by residents, but later gained support after the local telephone exchange was unable to be named Coopers Creek because the name existed elsewhere. It is claimed that the name was derived from a place in the Cumbrian Lake District of the UK, although I can't find any mention of such a place. It seems more likely that it is named after the lakes of the Huon Valley in Tasmania. Koonyum Range is possibly derived from the Gidabel local word 'gunyin', meaning 'anus'. No other information is known, other than it being commonplace to call sulphur outcrops, springs, or places with particular odors after similarly odorous things such as body parts. Indeed "Goonengerry' derives from the word 'gunang' meaning 'excrement', and 'gir' (pronounced 'gerry') meaning 'to want', or 'would like to'. It would seem that it might have been a popular dumping ground ;) Mt Boogarem may derive from the Gidabal word 'budaram' meaning 'mythology' or 'legend', or from the Bungalung 'bugam' meaning 'black bean tree'. Coopers Creek is said to be named after Alec Cooper, a cedar-getter working the area in the 1880s. Chincogan was most probably a fertility site, and its name is believed to have derived from local Aboriginal words meaning 'low behind and high in front', with specifically reference to 'male genitals facing northward'. Now you know........ :)

06.01.2022 The good old days, when rural schools sold quality produce from the their own gardens.

05.01.2022 https://youtu.be/fxhcmC-7lKc Latest installment in our Lavertys Gap Hydro video. It's about time we got this plant cranking again...........

04.01.2022 The final part of the Mullumbimby Area Historical Slide Show, available in full definition on a DVD from the museum or from Devine Meats in Mullumbimby, or message us for a downloadable PDF.