The Calliope River Historical Village is an

open-air museum An open-air museum (or open air museum) is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts out-of-doors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum. Definition Open air is “the unconfined atmosphere� ...

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 Na ...

(on the side road known as Old Bruce Highway) beside the

Calliope River The Calliope River is a river located 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 o ...

in River Ranch in the

Gladstone Region Gladstone Region is a local government area in Queensland, Australia. The council covers an area of , had an estimated resident population at 30 June 2018 of 62,979, and has an estimated operating budget of A$84 million. History Gladstone Re ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It is operated by the

Port Curtis Historical Society The Calliope River Historical Village is an open-air museum at 50951 Bruce Highway (on the side road known as Old Bruce Highway) beside the Calliope River in River Ranch in the Gladstone Region, Queensland, Australia. It is operated by the Port ...

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 ...

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 coastal town and locality in the Gladstone Region, Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Yarwun had a population of 119 people. Geography The North Coast railway line enters the locality from the south-west ( Byellee ...

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 in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

in the early 1940s. It was used on many routes including the

Sunshine Mail Sunlight is a portion of the electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun, in particular infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light. On Earth, sunlight is scattered and filtered through Earth's atmosphere, and is obvious as daylight when th ...

that ran from

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

(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. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...

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. Q15 ...

historical survey makers placed by the

Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute The Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute (SSSI) is the professional association for surveyors and spatial science workers, including cartography, hydrography, remote sensing, engineering and mining surveying, photogrammetry and spatial i ...

in 2009. This monument commemorates

Francis Peter MacCabe Francis Peter MacCabe (1817 – 27 June 1897) was a surveyor in the colony of New South Wales (later a state of Australia) in the 19th century. He surveyed and mapped the lower reaches of the Murrumbidgee, Darling and Murray Rivers in New South ...

, the first surveyor of

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...

. MacCabe was appointed by the

Government of New South Wales The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. The Governmen ...

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