IN THE VILLAGE
Beenleigh Heritage Buildings
Carroll House
The Carroll House was built in the 1890s. It was originally purchased by Thomas Murray, a police sergeant from Southport, and his wife Joanne, nee Carroll.
In time, Joanne’s brother John came to stay, marrying a local girl. Joanne became ill and was cared for by John’s sisters Peg, May and Kit. They inherited the house when she died, and in turn bequeathed it to the St Joseph Convent in Beenleigh. The convent auctioned the house, which was purchased by Mrs Norma McGovern who is a member of the Beenleigh and District Historical Society and ultimately donated by her to the village and brought onsite in 1998.
The Society painted its exterior, lined an inside wall withncalico and put linoleum down in the kitchen.
The Loganholme One Teacher School
The Loganholme One Teacher School first opened in 1873 and closed a century later, in 1974. Moved from its original site, it was operated very successfully from 1976 by Kelvin Grove College of Advanced Education, later the Queensland University of Technology, at Kelvin Grove as a one teacher school museum, before being moved again to the Old Beenleigh Town Historical Village in November 2010, together with its collections, furniture and documentation.
General Store
The General Store was built in 1892 and was once located at the corner of Alberton Road and Jacob’s Well Stapylton Road, Alberton. It was donated to the Village precinct in 1989. Originally owned by Charles Wilkie, the General Store was a feature of Beenleigh from 1892 to 1972. It was donated and brought to the village in 1989 to replace a similar building that burnt down in 25 July 1988. The front of the General Store is now home of the Village Lolly Shop. Be sure to pop in for a sweet treat when you visit us.
Council Chambers
Built in 1910 for the then Beenleigh Shire Council, the Beenleigh Council Chambers building was the first owned by the Beenleigh and District Historical Society and was its home from its foundation in 1969. It accommodated the Beenleigh Shire Council until 1949 when it was replaced and handed over to the Beenleigh Country Women’s Association. It was moved to the show grounds in1971, where it was used by the Beenleigh and District Historical Society. It was then moved to its current location in the village in 1983.
White House
The “White House” was built in 1920 and was moved to the village in 2009 from James Street, Beenleigh. Its provenance is otherwise not recorded. The White House is often utilised for sewing creations as it has become the home of our sewing team, craft and sign making team.
The Old Beenleigh Railway Station & Village Cafe
From 1885, the village includes the original building, brought from its original site in James Street in 1987. It has now been adapted for use as the village’s cafeteria through a substantial extension to the roof, providing greater space for catering. The Railway Station is currently leased to G.A.E as the home of the Tin Cup Café.
Barter’s Rest
Barter’s Cottage is a slab house first built in 1884 and transferred to the village in 1985. It is now interpreted as a late nineteenth century pub under the name “Planter’s Rest”, after an original pub which at one time was to be found in what is now Noyea Park.
Tin Cup Cafe
Get more information about bookings, tours and experiences here.
The Gallery In The Corridor
The Gallery in the Corridor is an on-site art gallery found within Saverin House. Home to many fabulous artworks from many local artists, it also houses many facinating vintage valuables from a bygone era.
Heck Homestead
Heck Homestead, also named the “House of Peace”, has found its resting place at the Beenleigh Historical Village and Museum after 107 years in Gold Coast and Logan history.
Heck Homestead was built in 1914 for Wilhelm and Ida Heck, second generation pioneers who came to Australia from Germany in 1866.
The home was built overlooking the family owned Rocky Point Sugar Mill. The homestead was then named “Friedensheim” which means House of Peace. It remained in the Heck family for three generations.
In June 2018, the home was relocated to the Beenleigh Historical Village and Museum in three pieces, generously donated to the Village by the Heck family.
Visitors to the home often remark on the craftsmanship of the skilled artisans who originally built the homestead, due to its high ceilings and ornate pressed “Wunderlich” metal construction – a German technique that was common in buildings of the time but is now a lost craft.
The home has not been lived in since the 1970s but has been well maintained during that time, and kept in good condition.
The building is now used for company meetings, family gatherings and charity events. It is available for hire for private and community events.
Machinery Shed
The two machinery sheds hold a number of items relating to horse-drawn transport. Positioned on a concrete pad adjacent to the village reception, the Machinery Shed houses a variety of equipment items such as:
- a pair of swinglebars;
- a range of yokes;
- a saddle;
- a feeding trough;
- a hand cart;
- as well as timber-getting equipment, including cross-cut saws; handsaws; a chain saw; a squaring axe; a broadaxe and a grappling hook.
The shed also holds a variety of agricultural equipment including:
- a chaff cutter;
- seed planters;
- a beekeeper’s puffer;
- a fertiliser spreader;
- dingo and rabbit traps.
Items unrelated to these themes include a steam boiler (1894) used by the Department of Defence and then by a local steam laundry.
Hester’s Dairy
The Hester Dairy was built in Yatala shortly after World War 2 by Frank & Joan Hester. It was brought on site in 1993. The Hester Dairy is essentially devoted to dairy technology and accommodates a range of dairy items, including:
- cow bells;
- a calf feeding bottle;
- dairy thermometers;
- milk bottles;
- butter pats;
- milk carrying yokes;
- a range of milking machines;
- a milk cooler;
- two handcarts;
- milk churns;
- separators;
- two original show certificates and a number of photographed objects, including a wool press.
Most notably, it includes a 1903 illuminated address to James Savage, the district’s first storekeeper.
Radke Family Cottage
The Radkes were a prominent Lutheran family of early settlers in the district, who made their home in Bethania in 1864. The Brisbane Courier (6 May 1927) reports the wedding of Lydia Radke to Mr G. Gruhlke, noting that the father of the bride was a senior church warden of the Bethania Lutheran Church. The family remains prominent in the Beenleigh district.
The cottage dates from 1872 and is of slab construction. It represents half of the original structure, the other half having been left on the original site at 113 Station Road, Bethania.
Now known as Radke’s Barn, it is still owned by the family, one member of which is also a member of the Beenleigh and District Historical Society. The building was donated and moved to the village in 1983 and restored the following year.
St George Church of England
This church was built in 1875 and designed by well-known architect F.D.G Stanley. It was built entirely off donations and made extensively from Yellowwood, Noosa pine, ironbark and polished cedar. The church was originally located on the corner of Bellow Street and Kent Street in Beenleigh.
The church was moved to Beenleigh Historical Village in 1980. This beautiful church is still being used for services and has been a place of worship for over 100 years.
The St. George Church is available for hire for weddings, functions or special events.
Fire Engine Shed
The key items in the fire engine shed are two fire appliances, a Dennis (possibly a 1944 Dennis LightFour, 4 litre, 4 cylinder, 70 bhp), and a Dodge c.1950. Both are in working order and are used to give demonstrations to school children.
The Old Coomera Lockup
This is a small lock-up originally used by police at Coomera for overnight custody of prisoners. Its original dates of construction and use are not
recorded, but it was moved into the village in 1991.
Schultz House
The Schultz House was built on the corner of Muchow Avenue and Kent Street around 1900. It was originally owned by the operator of the ferry
service across the Logan River. It was donated to the village in 1996.
Print Museum
George Harch Museum
