The Calliope River Historical Village is an

open-air museum An open-air museum is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts outdoors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum. Definition Open air is "the unconfined atmosphere ... outside buildings" ...

at 50951

Bruce Highway The Bruce Highway is a major highway in Queensland, Australia. Commencing in the state capital, Brisbane, it passes through areas close to the eastern coast on its way to Cairns in Far North Queensland. The route is part of the Australian Natio ...

(but accessed from the side road known as Old Bruce Highway) beside the

Calliope River The Calliope River is a river in Central Queensland, Australia. The river rises in the Calliope Range inland from the industrial port city of Gladstone, flows past the town of Calliope, before emptying into the Pacific Ocean just north of Gladst ...

in River Ranch in the

Gladstone Region Gladstone Region is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Queensland, Australia. The council covers an area of , and has an estimated operating budget of Australian dollar, A$84 million. In the , the Gladstone Region had a ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It is operated by the Port Curtis Historical Society.

History

The centenary celebrations of the

Shire of Calliope The Shire of Calliope was a local government area in the Capricornia region of Queensland, Australia. It was centred on the town of Calliope. History Calliope Division was created on 11 November 1879 as one of 74 divisions around Queensland u ...

in 1979 created a collection of historic material, which led to the establishment of the Port Curtis Historical Society. As a new bridge was being constructed for the

to cross the

, the diversion of the highway to the new bridge created a parcel of land that the shire proposed to use as a historical village. Following site works, the village commenced operation in 1983 with the arrival of the first building, the Ambrose railway station.

Collection

The museum comprises a number of historic buildings from the district which have been relocated to the historical village. Many of the buildings contain exhibits of everyday life and railway history. The Raglan Memorial Hall was built in about 1932 and was used for dances until 1990, after which it stood idle. It was relocated to the village in March 2002 and officially re-opened by George Creed, the mayor of Calliope Shire.

Yarwun Yarwun is a rural town and coastal locality in the Gladstone Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Yarwun had a population of 89 people. Geography The North Coast railway line enters the locality from the south-west ( Bye ...

railway station was relocated to the village and was re-opened in June 2003 as the ticket office and kiosk. A wooden railway carriage (No. 1353) was built in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

in the early 1940s. It was used on many routes including the Sunshine Mail that ran from

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

(which was superseded by the Sunlander in the 1960s). Having become surplus to requirements for passenger transport,

Queensland Rail Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Queensland Rail is owned by the Queensland Government, and operates both Commuter rail, suburban and Regional rail, interurban rail services in South East Queensland, as well ...

had it transported to the village on 1 June 1989 where it serves as a tourist information centre.

Historical survey monument

Although not part of the historical village, immediately outside its entrance is one of the

Q150 Q150 was the sesquicentenary (150th anniversary) of the Separation of Queensland from New South Wales in 1859. Separation established the Colony of Queensland which became the State of Queensland in 1901 as part of the Federation of Australia ...

historical survey makers placed by the

Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on th ...

in 2009. This monument commemorates Francis Peter MacCabe, the first surveyor of

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

. MacCabe was appointed by the

Government of New South Wales The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the executive state government of New South Wales, Australia. The government comprises 11 portfolios, led by a ministerial department and supported by several agencies. Th ...

to take a surveying party to the Port Curtis area to establish a settlement in 1853.

References

{{coord, -23.9591, 151.1557, type:landmark_region:AU-QLD, display=title Museums in Queensland Gladstone Region Open-air museums in Australia 1983 establishments in Australia