Smith’s Bridge at Woolooga, 2024. Photo source: Amy Sheaffe
The Gympie region is home to some magnificent and historically significant bridges. Have you ever wondered how the bridges in the Gympie region got their names? Read on to find out more!
Bandidt Crossing (over Chippendall Creek on the Burnett Highway, north of Goomeri):
This bridge was named after William Frederick Bandidt who was a Kilkivan councillor (1918-1933), president of the Chamber of Commerce, on the committee of the Show Society, and promoter of lucerne farming at Nangur Creek. His obituary was in the Maryborough Chronicle on the 6th of February 1946.
Bason Bridge (over Coles Creek on Mary Valley Link road):
This bridge is named after the families of Jack (Joseph) and Elizabeth Bason who arrived from England in about 1874 and moved from Tiaro to the Coles Creek area. Their farm was called Pine Farm. Joseph Bason was granted a Homestead lease of 160 acres in 1883 (Gympie Times, 7th July 1883, p3). William and Ann Groves owned a nearby property called Rock Farm (in Traveston Crossing Road). One son, Alf, married Alice Maud Bason, and their son George bought the farm from his brother Arthur in the 1960s.
Bason family descendant Greg McVicar instigated the naming of the Bason and Groves Bridges. Mr McVicar, in 2014, owned one of the Groves family farms. “My grandparents were the last Bason family members to own the Pine Hill property where the family dairied and raised crops,” he said. “It was resumed in 2005 for the Cooroy to Curra bypass.” (Source: Gympie Times, 15th of September, 2014).
Chapman Bridge (over Pie Creek on Eel Creek Road):
This bridge was named after the first European family who settled and brought property in the area. Englishman John Chapman bought a 160 acre property and later sold it to his son Sam. Sam passed the land on to his youngest son Roy in the 1940s. The land was sold out of the family in 1947. (Source: Gympie Times, 5th of July 1990).
Doyles Bridge (over Kandanga Creek on Kandanga Creek Road):
Doyles Bridge was opened in February 1926, replacing a crossing which was often damaged by water levels rising (due to rainfall) in the creek. John Doyle drove his car across the bridge to celebrate its opening. He died aged 78 in Brisbane but was well-known in the Mary Valley for taking a keen interest in the timber industry and aviation. He owned a timber mill on Kandanga Creek (near Kandanga Creek School) by 1904 and one in Imbil by 1911.
E.G. Keating Bridge (over Bongmillerer Creek on The Wide Bay Highway):
Evan Keating was born in 1913 in Murgon. He loved football and painting with watercolour. He married and moved to Kilkivan in 1939. After serving in New Guinea and Bougainville during World War 2, Mr Keating was a long-term office bearer of Kilkivan sub-branch of the RSL. “Former Kilkivan resident Evan Keating passed away last month, but his involvement and dedication within the local community will never be forgotten” (Gympie Times, Thursday Oct 2, 1997). The former Kilkivan Shire clerk will be remembered daily, as dozens of motorists drive over the bridge named in his honour – the Evan Keating Bridge over Bongmillerer Creek, east of the Woolooga turn-off (Gympie Times, Thursday Oct 2, 1997).
Frank Farmer Bridge (over Woonga Creek on Abel Road, near Lower Wonga):
Frank and Beatrice Farmer’s Wedding photo (Photo source: Kath Farmer).
Frank’s daughter-in-law Kath was keen to describe Frank’s links to the bridge named after him when we interviewed her in 2024. Kath said that the Frank Farmer Bridge was named after her husband’s father Alfred Francis Sym Farmer, known as Frank Farmer. His wife was Beatrice Daisy Farmer. Frank and Beatrice lived in Phillips Road, off Abel Road at the intersection of the Widgee to Woolooga Road. Frank was a councillor for Kilkivan Shire Council for nine years from 1949-1958. Frank and Daisy are buried in Gympie Cemetery.
Gears Bridge (over Deep Creek on Cedar Pocket Road, just below the dam wall):
Dairy farmers Herbert and Margaret Gear owned land on both sides of the bridge. Some of this land was passed down to Alan and Dulcie Gear and, in 2024, Fred and Linda Gear were still there.
Groves Bridge (over Mary River on Mary Valley Link Road):
William and Ann Groves owned a property called the Rock Farm (in Traveston Crossing Rd). One son, Alf, married Maud Bason, and their son George bought the farm from his brother Arthur in the 1960s. The Mary River bridge on the Mary Valley Link Road is adjacent to the old Groves farm. The nearby Bason Bridge is named for the families of Jack and Elizabeth Bason who arrived from England in about 1874 and moved from Tiaro to the Coles Creek area. See Bason Bridge details for more information.
Keith Mackay Bridge (over Amamoor Creek on the Mary Valley Road Road near Dagun):
Keith Mackay was a bridge builder, contracted to build several bridges.
Lorensen Bridge (over Pie Creek on Rocks Road):
Lorsensen Bridge was named for the Lorensen family. Peter Lorensen farmed nearby. His daughters Mary Ann and Ellen Fanny lived there until their deaths in 1996 and 1998.
MacTaggarts Bridge (over Wide Bay Creek on Mudlo Road):
This bridge is named after the MacTaggart family, (being the first owners of the Kilkivan Station). The Kilkivan township was named for a pastoral run owned by pastoralist John Daniel MacTaggart (1823–1871). His nephew Daniel MacTaggart did not remain on the property after his uncle’s death.
The bridge opened in 1935. Shane Joyce of nearby Kumbartcho writes in 2024: ‘I also understand that the Mactaggart who was here was married to a sister of George Hall Jones who is buried here on the farm. George’s wife Rose Eileen & their son David Lacey are also buried here. The graves are on a hilltop overlooking the bridge.’
Mellor Bridge (over Tinana Creek on Wilsons Pocket Road):
Matthew Mellor. Image source: State Library of Queensland.
Matthew Mellor was born in 1839 in Leek Frith, Staffordshire, then emigrated to Queensland in 1863, farmed for two years on the Logan River, and was a timber-cutter on the Mary River. He came to Gympie after the 1867 Gold Rush, becoming a successful butcher and timber trader. He was Gympie’s first Mayor in 1880, the first Chairman of Widgee Divisional Board from 1880-1883, and Member for the Legislative Assembly (M.L.A.) for Wide Bay from 1883-1888 and Gympie from 1888-1893. He died in Brisbane on 17 February 1899 (State Library of Queensland, 2007).
Rockemer Bridge (over Boonara Creek on the Burnett Highway, near Boubyjan):
The bridge is probably named after Percy Rockemer who lived on the hill back from Boonara Creek. Percy died in 1981.
Did you enjoy reading about the history of bridges in the Gympie area? Click on the button below to read “History of Bridges Part Two”.
Guest blog by volunteer Robyn
(Thank you to Robyn who researched and collated for this project).
References:
– Farmer, K. (2024) ‘Frank Farmer’. Interviewed by Robyn Bowman.
-State Library of Queensland. (2007). Matthew Mellor. [Online]. State Library of Queensland. Last Updated: 2007. Available at: https://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/discovery/fulldisplay?vid=61SLQ_INST:SLQ&docid=alma9918350960390206 [Accessed 22 January 2025].
-The Gympie Times. (1883). Local and General News. The Gympie Times. [Online]. 7th of July 1883. Available at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/178023898?searchTerm=bason [Accessed 22nd of January 2024].
-The Gympie Times. (1990). Land Sales. The Gympie Times. 5th of July, p.1.
-The Gympie Times. (1997). Evan Keating. The Gympie Times. 2nd of October, p.1.
-The Gympie Times. (2014). Bridges into our history. The Gympie Times. [Online]. 15th of September 2014. Available at https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/gympie/bridges-into-our-history/news-story/7292235c564b700745411fec851d6e [Accessed 22nd of January 2024].
Gympie Regional Memories 