Monday 9 December 2019

Hervey Bay was a dairy farming district

Colonsay Farm Horse Shed Source: Queensland Heritage Register

Colonsay Farm (former Doolong Farm),Source: Queensland Heritage Register
Did you know a dairy farming area that was known as Aalborg was in Hervey Bay? In the 1870s settlers from Scandinavian areas set up dairy farms and it was not until September 1877 that the town of Hervey Bay was established from this and a number of other small areas.  A farm from this era, Colonsay at Kawungan, was developed as a dairy farm from 1879 and is heritage listed here. It is considered one of the only surviving small scale dairy farms typical of that time in Hervey Bay. The Wide Bay was the second highest milk producing area of the state when Colonsay Farm was in its prime. A decline in the industry only began in Queensland in the 1950s. Anders Jensen, a Danish immigrant established the farm. The timber house was built in 1909 and other buildings include a creamery, a slab barn, cow bails, two piggeries with an enclosed timber walk-through and a dairy with electrically operated milking machines (Queensland Heritage Register).

Joan McFie also shared lots of memories of Hervey Bay including the house and property she owns on the blog here.

Do you know anything about the dairy farms in Hervey Bay?

References
Colonsay Farm (former Doolong Farm) retrieved from Queensland Heritage Register on the 10th December, 2019.


#dairyfarms #slabhuts #doolong #Colonsay #herveybay #kawungan

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