How times change…the story of Nikenbah

1923 Class Photo Nikenbah School. Source: Fraser Coast Chronicle (2013)

According to Hervey Bay Historical Village and Museum member John Andersen, so much of our early European history originated in the Nikenbah area of Hervey Bay. The original Nikenbah School still stands in the school grounds opposite the Animal Refuge corner on Nikenbah-Dundowran Road, Nikenbah. The school was originally called Bunyah Park and was on the corner of Main Street and Booral Road before it was shifted in 1915 to its present site. In 1963 it was closed (Fraser Coast Chronicle, 2013).  It is now cared for by the Nikenbah Progress Association and leased to the Spinners & Weavers. It is a link to the beginnings of Hervey Bay.

Danish Lutheran Church Aalborg (Nikenbah). Source: Hervey Bay Historical Village and Museum.

The first European settlers from Denmark settled in the area we now call Nikenbah. They had arrived with thousands of other immigrants from their motherlands in Denmark, Germany and the British Isles at the pioneering township of Maryborough after escaping the harsh conditions of Europe.
They called the area Aalborg after a town in Denmark and built their homes, a church and established a cemetery. So it was that Aalborg, now called Nikenbah, became the first European settlement in this district. There are still many descendants of these early pioneering families living in Hervey Bay today.

Bullock Team Loading Cane Nikenbah. Source: Hervey Bay Historical Village and Museum.

With the opening of the railway line connecting Pialba to Maryborough in 1896, the golden sands and beaches of the Bay attracted the influx of new settlers and saw the area rapidly develop into the thriving city of today. During all this time, Nikenbah was the forgotten suburb. The station and railway yards were always busy transporting the sugar cane, fruits and produce to Maryborough. The Nikenbah School looked after the children of the farmers, but very little development occurred.

Original Keen Store Nikenbah. Source: Hervey Bay Historical Village and Museum.

Les Keen delivery groceries around 1918. Source: Hervey Bay Historical Village and Museum.

Central to all of this was the Keen Family General Store, with the property still controlled by the fifth generation of the family. With the advent of supermarkets, such stores no longer exist but, in their time, they served the local community very well with grocery deliveries, supplies and hardware items. Before local hospitals, doctors and chemists, even all the local babies were regularly weighed on the scales in the shop. These actual scales are now on display at the Hervey Bay Historical Village & Museum.

The local farmers formed the Dundowran Fruit Growers Association and operated a shop in the railway yards at Nikenbah. Eventually road transport overtook the rail network and the Association closed.

After decades of peaceful country-style life, Nikenbah has recently seen the developed Hervey Bay area expand to change its character forever. Development that the early pioneers would never have dreamed about, has seen large residential areas opened, major multinational companies set up businesses, coffee shops established, the men’s shed opened, animal refuge centre and market days held. The newly opened Sports Precinct adds to the importance of the entire region. Nikenbah is a large regional recycling area and other large projects are already in the planning stage.

As the founding settlement for the large city of Hervey Bay, Nikenbah indeed holds a special place in the history of this region.

Published with consent from John Andersen Hervey Bay Historical Village and Museum Inc.

References:

Fraser Coast Chronicle 13th May, 2013 Nikenbah State School Centenary, retrieved on 28th April, 2020.

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