Discovering Dalby: From Railway to Religion

["https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FExample%201%20(1).png?alt=media&token=a7b0eaa6-ebdb-4e49-b496-7d96a6548021","https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2F2.png?alt=media&token=733a74b4-aafc-4ae5-839f-58e0f1d9a411","https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2F3.png?alt=media&token=b57e18c3-82f9-40ad-b8a0-e24f9f523935","https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2F4.png?alt=media&token=aae14f15-46bd-4103-8d14-873806ec8433","https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2F5.png?alt=media&token=b8ab4206-8d17-4a29-9ebe-a2bbf180b95c","https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2F6.png?alt=media&token=263ca2d5-9709-42c6-9b3d-6bef8f6ee30c"]

[{"address":"R766+5WC Dalby","placeId":null,"location":{"longitudeDelta":0.16042776180042792,"latitudeDelta":0.09219986310369421,"latitude":-27.189562508157668,"longitude":151.26226559999998},"media":[{"type":"text","content":"# The Crossing"},{"ttsForStop":true,"type":"audio","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FDiscovering%20Dalby%20-%20VO%20-%20Stop%2001%20-%2002.mp3?alt=media&token=256f5c97-6f2e-41b9-9fa4-d1f6aafb39ad"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FIMG-5463.jpg?alt=media&token=4f43bcac-ba5f-47b9-84f0-dffc6b64e71f"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FIMG-5465.jpg?alt=media&token=6c40ce2b-6011-4192-b05a-fa480a83ad18"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2F1802_Dalby_001.jpg?alt=media&token=680dac42-d132-4989-bef9-d901efc160a9"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2Faerial%20view%20-%201931A.jpg?alt=media&token=b611cf35-e031-40a3-96e4-2d7dd45ef76d"},{"type":"text","content":"From swamp to township\n\nIn the early 1840’s Dalby looked remarkably different, just a marshy, swampy area where the Myall creek wandered its course, through a vastly flat terrain on its way to join the Condamine River.\n\nHow the town of Dalby came to be the place that it is today, is a story which began thousands of years ago and it includes tales of hard work and innovation, celebration of cultures, inspiring individuals and a supportive and tight knit community who have called it home.\n\nIn Dalby, we acknowledge the history and culture of the Barranggum people, the traditional custodians of the land on which you gather. We pay our respects to their elders, past and present.\n\nOriginally named \"The Crossing\", this obelisk in Edward Street marks the spot in which the first settler Henry Dennis, accompanied by an Aboriginal boy, pitched his camp on the side of the creek.\n\nWhilst the source of the town name Dalby remains a mystery today, one likely theory is that it comes from the village of Dalby on the Isle of Man and reflects immigration from the Isle during the mid-19th Century.\n\nAlthough some locals much prefer the tongue in cheek suggestion of Alderman HS Williams in 1951 that Dalby stands for \"do a little bit yourself\".\n\n"},{"type":"text","content":"From humble beginnings, surrounding land was utilised by settlers and generations of local families for timber, sheep and cattle grazing, dairies and broadacre farming which built Dalby and the Western Downs into the recognised industrial and agricultural hub you see today.\n\nIn 2022, Dalby boasted a population of twelve thousand, seven hundred and fifty-eight people who continue to demonstrate the hardworking, down to earth, spirited, charming, outdoorsy nature of their ancestors.\n\nFor the locals, we are proud that when people think of Dalby, and the Western Downs, they know \"it’s the people that make it”.\n\n"}]},{"address":"40A Myall St","placeId":null,"location":{"longitudeDelta":0.16042776180042792,"latitudeDelta":0.09219986310369421,"latitude":-27.186807700697326,"longitude":151.26340522087813},"media":[{"type":"text","content":"# Mercy Creek Bridge"},{"ttsForStop":true,"type":"audio","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FDiscovering%20Dalby%20-%20VO%20-%20Stop%2002%20-%2001.mp3?alt=media&token=a437e5ef-cec0-42bb-8f45-6b5ba363156b"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FNovember%202009%20Mercy%20Bridge.JPG?alt=media&token=94144258-a7ed-482d-ae09-825dc482612e"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2Fchurch%20%232.PNG?alt=media&token=b17fbf08-2d6e-4665-9c3f-d79fabf3e24a"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2Fsupplied%20by%20the%20descendants%20of%20Monsignor%20TJ%20Nolan%20possibly%20the%20successor%20to%20the%20'log'.jpeg?alt=media&token=1f2c275b-a193-4334-aff6-3be18cea6d0b"},{"type":"text","content":"Welcome to Mercy Creek Bridge. The Mercy Creek Bridge was officially named in honour of Mother Mary Rose who pioneered the establishment of the first Mercy Convent in Toowoomba before later taking a small contingent of sisters to Dalby in 1877.\n\nThe first Catholic Church for Dalby (currently where Goondir Health Services Building is today) fell in a fierce storm and the second succumb to white ants but it was here at the Mercy Creek Bridge that the nuns would cross the creek daily leaving the Convent originally a commodious version of the former “Plough Inn” to reach the Church on the western side.\n\nDespite the courage and determination of Mother Mary Rose, the one problem with the location of the church on the opposite side of the creek was that Mother Mary Rose refused to paddle, swim or leap across the waterway so a large log was utilised to span the obstacle, that was of course until Mother Mary Rose stood fast refusing to lift her habit any longer and a small bridge erected.\n\nBeing close to the creek floods could be a dangerous hazard and droughts too had their downside so by 1913 the nuns hitching their habits for the last time accompanied by their boarding students took up more suitable lodgings across the creek, transitioning from a house of revelry, to a house of prayer formerly known as “St Columba’s” where they remained until 1990.\n\n"}]},{"address":"R788+J94 Dalby","placeId":null,"location":{"longitudeDelta":0.16042776180042792,"latitudeDelta":0.09219986310369421,"latitude":-27.183487508155565,"longitude":151.26595315},"media":[{"type":"text","content":"# Dalby Bore Baths"},{"ttsForStop":true,"type":"audio","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FDiscovering%20Dalby%20-%20VO%20-%20Stop%2003%20-%2001.mp3?alt=media&token=6c71b81b-9738-4bf3-b230-a88c98c44845"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FAnother%20early%20Bore%20Bath%20Building.png?alt=media&token=83f5f39e-6bef-4715-b00b-909bc056e979"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FSwimmers%20Dalby%201916.png?alt=media&token=1023508d-13e4-4c1c-b4eb-49430d5bbecb"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FFirst%20Dalby%20Swimming%20Pool%20Myall%20Creek.jpg?alt=media&token=a0585e7f-6ee5-40a3-90ae-2a287093861b"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FIMG-5469.jpg?alt=media&token=d32375af-5dac-4716-85c1-da6408f0b7d5"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FWhim%20over%20town%20well%20about%201872.jpg?alt=media&token=2fef0c2f-c85f-4589-ad72-2e188440e9f1"},{"type":"text","content":"As you now arrive at what used to be the site of the Dalby Bore Baths, we take you back to the early days where there was no town water supply and each house relied on catching rain runoff in iron tanks. The most common tank held twelve hundred gallons, roughly four thousand five hundred litres,with most households rarely having more than one.\n\nSo, no daily showers in those days with tanks needing to stay the distance between rain. Saturday was bath day. Water would be heated in wood fired wash copper and ablutions would take place in the wash house or \"laundry\" as we now call it.\n\nDalby's earliest water supply came later, when a well was dug at the corner of Drayton and Cunningham streets, which was later known as the parish pump or the Whim. It was there that no limitation was imposed on the freedom of speech and frequent arguments ranged from the mild to the slanderous and from the true to the wildest flights of fancy.\n\nAn artesian bore was sunk in 1908 to a depth of two thousand five hundred feet or 760 meters, and the water flowed freely from the artesian bore head at almost boiling point. With the bore came the first public bath house with water piped into storage tanks on top of the old wooden structure before being drawn off as required by the bathers in the shower cubicles at temperature to suit their needs.\n\nThis establishment was under the management of a Mrs Stewart, a grand old lady who kept the public facility clean and collected the tuppenny fee for showers or a sixpence for a plunge bath from the patrons.\n\nDescribed in the early days as a favourite meeting place, patrons would tell the news of the day and exchange yarns whilst waiting for their showers.\n\nOne local yarn unravelling this tale.\n\n"},{"type":"text","content":"> **\"One regular patron, the mother of a large family who resided near the baths, was on occasion absent for many days; an inquiry at the time revealed the arrival of number ten. A local wag suggested to the proud father the baby should be called Watson. The favourite whiskey in those days being Watson No. 10.\"**"},{"type":"text","content":"Before moving on, be sure to pop inside the Dalby Arts Centre showcasing local talent from across the Western Downs."}]},{"address":"R788+PHF Dalby","placeId":null,"location":{"longitudeDelta":0.16042776180042792,"latitudeDelta":0.09219986310369421,"latitude":-27.183187508155488,"longitude":151.26642184999997},"media":[{"type":"text","content":"# Cactoblastis Cairn"},{"ttsForStop":true,"type":"audio","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FDiscovering%20Dalby%20-%20VO%20-%20Stop%2004%20-%2001.mp3?alt=media&token=c262142e-e228-47c8-b674-148716367d97"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2F2007%20Dalby%20%20District%20(200)%20(1).png?alt=media&token=b3412d1c-6d6e-4c79-963e-2aa665d46914"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FDalby-392-0957.jpg?alt=media&token=760dbd30-ca41-4a8e-9671-de763ffd50da"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2F2021%20Cactoblastis%20Cairn%20-GMH_6605-2.png?alt=media&token=9e839556-d829-43e7-9d6c-fee1126235c2"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FQueensland_State_Archives_3035_Prickly_pear_forest_c_1930%20(1).png?alt=media&token=a6977b98-7dd7-4063-9ba2-8cdf4ac9345f"},{"type":"text","content":"An extraordinary story, Dalby commemorates the triumph of a moth over the mass infestation of the prickly plant in Australia\n\nIntentionally introduced to Australia in 1788, the prickly pear cactus quickly left much of the prime agricultural land unusable by the 1920s devastatingly infesting more than twenty-four million two hundred and fifty thousand hectares.\n\nFor Dalby it was Mr Hughes who introduced the prickly pear. Brought in from the Moree & Goondiwindi areas Mr Hughes had a garden on the opposite side of Myall creek and in an attempt to stop the local lads stealing his fruit, as wire and paling fences could not keep them out, he built a fine hedge.\n\nSome months later however there was a big flood and before long prickly pear was growing everywhere.\n\n"},{"type":"text","content":"**Local resident Jean shares with us a story told by her Grandma of how during its peak the cactus would tower above her horse's head and that at the age of seventeen falling from her horse Jean's great grandfather was forced to take to her bottom with his cut throat razor.\n\nDying at the grand age of eighty poor \"Grandma\" was buried still carting those scars in her bottom.**\n\n"},{"type":"text","content":"The prickly pear plant was built hardy to survive in the difficult climate of ORIGIN but in Australia’s favourable climate and without natural predators, it quickly spread out of control. The prickly spines of the plant made it unpalatable to grazing animals and dense forests of the plant rendered much land impassable.\n\nThe prickly pear problem became so bad in fact that farmers were using anything and everything to stop the growth. Someone suggested flame throwers. Someone else wanted to use World War 1 tanks and around 1912 chlorine gas was being used and a year later farmers were demanding soda and arsenic to try to control the weed.\n\n"},{"type":"text","content":"> **Jean remembers clearly as a girl always thinking that old men had funny thumb nails. The men having tied rags on a stick dosed with arsenic to kill off the prickly pear often eating their thumb nails away and poisoning quite a few fellas too.**"},{"type":"text","content":"With methods failing, it was in 1924, that Alan Dodd went to America to explore the possibility of biological control where he came across the Cactoblastis cactorum moth, a natural predator to the dreaded plant. He decided to ship the moth's eggs to Australia as a control solution.\n\nInitially three thousand eggs arrived from Argentina and from a population of five hundred & twenty-seven females a total of one hundred thousand, six hundred and five eggs were hatched. Half these eggs were then sent onto the Chinchilla Prickly Pear Experimental Station and half were kept in Brisbane. The moth bred with enthusiasm.\n\nThe second generation yielded over two million five hundred thousand (2,500,000) eggs and at the height of the operation Chinchilla was sending out as many as 14 million Cactoblastis eggs a day.\n\n"},{"type":"text","content":"> **It didn’t take long for the moth to get the cactus under control and return much of the fertile Western Downs to prime farming land.**"},{"type":"text","content":"Still to this day but seldom heard, it really was not so many years ago that Dalby & Chinchilla locals referred to the district as being either BC or AC that is before or after Cactoblastis."}]},{"address":"R789+G4G Dalby","placeId":null,"location":{"longitudeDelta":0.15858376453835404,"latitudeDelta":0.09219986310369421,"latitude":-27.183687508155643,"longitude":151.26782815},"media":[{"type":"text","content":"# Anzac Park War Memorial"},{"ttsForStop":true,"type":"audio","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FDiscovering%20Dalby%20-%20VO%20-%20Stop%2005%20-%2002.mp3?alt=media&token=47888bdc-d9f8-46e4-a5cd-56ce688bd1b1"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FIMG-5474.jpg?alt=media&token=a7442fc0-8990-4463-a82b-2440d01f690c"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FWDRC-393-1874.jpg?alt=media&token=1d3fbf3b-4d50-43e4-aedc-4994d112a8df"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FThomas%20Jack%20at%20Memorial%20Anzac%20day.jpg?alt=media&token=0519435c-eeb0-482c-9226-608fdf2567c3"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2F25%20Infantry%20Battalion.jpg?alt=media&token=1958641a-3b65-47e1-8dd8-cf5bd0d2f0c6"},{"type":"text","content":"Welcome to Anzac Park! This monument commemorates those who were killed in action or service in WW1, WW2 and the Korean War.\n\nLike the great Winston Churchill once said, \"Those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.\" and as we stand here in this beautiful park, we're surrounded by reminders of the bravery and sacrifices that have been made in the name of freedom from tyranny and oppression\n\nAs you take a stroll around this park explore some of the monuments, such as the Memorial gates and the bronze Digger.\n\nAs history teaches us, it was on the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 that the Great War ended, however the treaty of peace signifying the official end of the Great War was in fact not signed until the 28th of June 1919 explaining why some memorials carry the dates 1914-1918 and others like these 1914-1919.\n\nThe bronze \"Digger\", a rare statue, is one of only two cast in Bronze in QLD and based on an Australian Infantry soldier standing with head bowed and arms reversed. The pedestal has 4 large bronze plates with brass lettering, bearing the names of 360 local men who served in WW1, including the 64 fallen.\n\nSpeaking of Diggers, we have a true and heart-warming story of Anzac WW1 Airman Tim Tovell and his honorary “little Digger” to share.\n\n"},{"type":"text","content":"**It was Christmas Day 1918, and the men of the Australian Flying Corps 4 Squadron had just sat down to enjoy a sumptuous Christmas lunch when a small French boy wandered into the airmen’s mess at Bickendorf Air Base in Germany.\n\nCold and Hungry Honoré invited himself to the feast and it wasn’t long before the soldiers called the boy Henri nicknamed \"little digger\" or \"digger\" after the men struggled to pronounce his name.\n\nHonoré's parents had both been killed during the war and he survived for 4 years on the battlefields of the Western Front becoming adopted by the Australian Soldiers. Part of Squadron life skating and joking with the men, catching rats and hitching rides on planes.\n\nAs his birthday and location of birth was unknown the soldiers chose Christmas Day as his birthday, one which he retained throughout his whole life.\n\nTim Tovell, a Jandowae soldier became very close to the boy during this time and after tragically losing his own son to meningitis during the war he smuggled Henri back to Australia in a kit bag, and a bag of oats on a troopship.\n\nTovell and his wife, Gertrude, adopted the boy after he arrived in Australia and he lived with them and their family in Queensland until 1926 when as a young man he left for Melbourne to train with RAAF before he was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident in Spring Street, Melbourne, in May 1928. Despite not being a member of the air force, Henri was buried with military honours at Fawkner Cemetery in Melbourne.**\n\n"},{"type":"text","content":"Even after the release of the book Young Digger the identity of Henri remains unclear. We know he was French or Belgian, his real name was Honoré and that he was taken by British soldiers near Lille. This story is still alive and only when someone can demonstrate who the boy is will the story really come to an end.\n\nWhen you are ready to move on, the next stop is just a short walk away. So take your time, breathe in the fresh air, and reflect on the bravery of our Anzacs before moving on.\n\n"}]},{"address":"R789+XHJ Dalby","placeId":null,"location":{"longitudeDelta":0.15858376453835404,"latitudeDelta":0.09219986310369421,"latitude":-27.182537508155256,"longitude":151.2688906},"media":[{"type":"text","content":"# George Anderson Memorial Park"},{"ttsForStop":true,"type":"audio","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FDiscovering%20Dalby%20-%20VO%20-%20Stop%2006%20-%2001.mp3?alt=media&token=588339b3-a8d9-4b06-bb24-ac6c26985714"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FIMG-5836.jpg?alt=media&token=dd34fa84-0051-4261-ae57-0611d1e22c4b"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FIMG-5837.jpg?alt=media&token=b13b262b-39b4-4471-baf7-bac641d161f0"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FIMG-5835.jpg?alt=media&token=33fed627-da08-4a77-bc16-2ff96d6f13dc"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2F1907_Dalby_075.JPG?alt=media&token=f64fd33f-7536-4d3e-b2c7-88a7db0a5ace"},{"type":"text","content":"Flight Lieutenant George Alexander Anderson born 23 April 1918 Service Number 22465 enlisted at the Royal Australian Air Force on 20 May 1940."},{"ttsForStop":false,"type":"audio","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2Fair-raid-76679.mp3?alt=media&token=06b966d6-fcf4-45e5-b5de-e9d0aa01abc8"},{"type":"text","content":"At 26 years young George was the pilot on a Lockheed bomber A59-84 which crashed in a bombing expedition near Batchelor in the Northern Territory killing all six crew members on board.\n\nUnmarried, George was the younger son of William John (known as \"Hungry\" to locals) and Ruby Marion Anderson who gifted the Dalby Town Council this portion of land to be forever the fourth playground and public memorial to their son.\n\n"},{"type":"text","content":"**Dalby wartime youngster Merv Trennery, fascinated by all things aircraft, arrived in Dalby on Feb 10th 1942 whilst his father served in the WWII air force.\n\nA boy keen for adventure and with a love of planes Merv would stand with his mates at the massive gates of the “Dalby Airstrip” to see the planes and be given chocolates, apples and oranges by the Yanks.\n\nWith the arrival of the US forces in QLD in late December 1941 so came an increased demand for airfields to accommodate US aircraft.\n\nDalby’s original airstrip built around 1929 was used to support the US Heavy Bomber all weather airfield in Cecil Plains. Whilst the airstrip is now long gone, the current site of Dalby South State School remains one of fond memories for Merv.**\n\n"},{"type":"text","content":"Following the Myall Creek walkway head towards the railway station, the place where trains stop and start but also where the next part of the story begins."}]},{"address":"R7CC+3G4 Dalby","placeId":null,"location":{"longitudeDelta":0.15858376453835404,"latitudeDelta":0.09219986310369421,"latitude":-27.179862508154308,"longitude":151.27132815000002},"media":[{"type":"text","content":"# Dalby Railway"},{"ttsForStop":true,"type":"audio","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FDiscovering%20Dalby%20-%20VO%20-%20Stop%2007%20-%2001.mp3?alt=media&token=d715a04d-ba34-4a58-9b7a-4d03997b0e61"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FSteam%20Train%20Visit.png?alt=media&token=c6b88459-e6a3-449f-b3ed-9a950dc55efb"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2F2007%20Dalby%20_%20District%20(274).png?alt=media&token=00245906-4c22-4b69-a044-f79a414d3f0e"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FBullock%20Team%20Bunya%20Mountains.jpg?alt=media&token=cf634797-13b4-4ce7-b346-975ce90dca54"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FButter%20Factory%201987.jpg?alt=media&token=5c27247d-474f-4d7a-aa5f-f06028856b04"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FIMG-5515.jpg?alt=media&token=701aef16-7802-47e0-aada-1404206666c3"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FTND190511peep.jpg?alt=media&token=6b5d24bc-4e12-46f1-9bc7-1fe8493efd68"},{"type":"text","content":"Welcome! Have you ever wondered what it's like to stand in the footsteps of history? Well, look around, we have arrived at the Dalby Railway Station, a significant piece of heritage that helped develop Western Downs Region\n\nThe Dalby Railway Station was opened in 1868 and was the starting point of Western history. This station played a vital role in connecting trade within the region, which in fact led to an unprecedented population boom between 1859 and 1874 of 700%, making Dalby one of the most important towns in Queensland with 2.8% of the States total population.\n\nThe original timber station with one platform opened in 1868 and was to remain “the end of the line” until westward extension in 1877.\n\nBuilt principally for wool trade, wool and primary produce was freighted from Dalby to Ipswich, transferred onto barges for transport down the Brisbane River before finally being loaded onto ships moored in Moreton Bay. The Brisbane River at the time was too shallow to allow big ships, until dredging in the 1880's opened it up.\n\nThe next station built in 1913 included a second platform constructed to service the newly created branch line to Tara, which would eventually stretch to Meandarra and Glenmorgan.\n\nThe branch line to Bell opened 1906 and the line to Jandowae in 1914\n\nThe line to Bell had a three time a week railmotor service with the same of goods trains. Farm produce was its mainstay and later cream traffic increased as did wheat and timber from the Bunya Mountains\n\n"},{"type":"text","content":"> **Herb Hurley, an operator of 43 years remembers the time a group of Tourists booked the train to Bell and back. There was confusion from the tourists but laughter from the railway employees on the platform as they tried to find the town Bellandback on a map.**"},{"type":"text","content":"The line to Jandowae mainly catered for dairy products as well as bagged and bulk grain with three times a week railmotor service\n\nThe existing station was built in 1930 and with it came refreshment rooms, an offering long since phased out with the transition from steam locomotives to Diesel in Dalby in 1968.\n\nWithout the need to stop to take on water and clean the fire and the smokebox of a steam locomotive, the passenger comfort stops, initially established for operational reasons, were no longer required. One by one, the worldwide phenomenon of station Refreshment Rooms closed.\n\n"},{"type":"text","content":"> **Herb's wife Ruth remembers going over to the platform at Dalby to meet Herb coming in on the goods train in the \"Steam Days\". Herb asked Ruth up on the loco as they were to shunt their train into the yard. Wearing high heels, the safety plate that covers between the loco and tender grabbing steadfast Ruth's shoe heel rendering her stuck. To the amusement of the driver and (fireman) Herb they had to reverse the whole train to release that heel. This was to be the last time Ruth went for a ride in the cab of a Loco.**"},{"ttsForStop":false,"type":"audio","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2Flocomotive-steam-wbell-and-whistle-3-99256.mp3?alt=media&token=273bf9e7-6062-4873-b9a7-3182ff7aa642"},{"type":"text","content":"The next stop on the trail will be Wendy’s on Cunningham in the CBD.\n\nFeeling maybe a little parched? Be sure to take a moment and enjoy a coffee or refreshing drink along the way at one of our many Cafes or Hotels.\n\n"}]},{"address":"R798+FJF Dalby","placeId":null,"location":{"longitudeDelta":0.15858376453835404,"latitudeDelta":0.09219986310369421,"latitude":-27.181312508154818,"longitude":151.2665469},"media":[{"type":"text","content":"# Wendy's on Cunningham"},{"ttsForStop":true,"type":"audio","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FDiscovering%20Dalby%20-%20VO%20-%20Stop%2008%20-%2001.mp3?alt=media&token=69ef41dc-01c9-4fbe-b626-8809a45dddc1"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FWendy.jpg?alt=media&token=1d011491-c2d1-4d1a-ac98-760942ebb68a"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FIMG-5531.jpg?alt=media&token=89145643-9cd5-4721-a83c-699e65e60bab"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2Fogdens.jpg?alt=media&token=bd362f86-f3bc-4da0-bfe9-298a8b2310f6"},{"type":"text","content":"Welcome to Wendy’s on Cunningham\n\nBuilt in the 1880's this brick building formerly known as Ogden's has stood the test of time thanks to fire walls found on both sides.\n\nAs you explore this shop be sure to have a look at the pressed tin ceiling and cash rail system or flying fox. This aerial system once used to transfer money with a docket from the shop counter to a till located in a back room, where the correct change was organised and then sent back down the line.\nThis would allow shop assistants to devote themselves to serving customers at the counter without using precious time to visit the cashier’s office.\n\nAt EJ Ogden it was where “Good Value was Guaranteed and still is today”.\n\nOperating from 1912-1993 Ogden's were the descendants of the first white child ever born in Dalby Charlotte Stewart daughter of Samuel Stewart.\n\nAptly named as Wendy's after its purchase in 1993 the shop continues its shopping heritage remaining as draper and mercer today.\n\nThis store stocks a large range of Ladies and Men's wear, fabrics, haberdashery, craft items, purses and handbags. Leaving here without a gift for yourself may be a challenge.\n\nTake your time and have fun exploring this retail beauty and when you're ready, let’s move onto the next stop on our journey.\n\n"}]},{"address":"R797+2R4 Dalby","placeId":null,"location":{"longitudeDelta":0.15858376453835404,"latitudeDelta":0.09219986310369421,"latitude":-27.182487508155226,"longitude":151.26457814999998},"media":[{"type":"text","content":"# Marys & Early Pub History"},{"ttsForStop":true,"type":"audio","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FDiscovering%20Dalby%20-%20VO%20-%20Stop%2009%20-%2001.mp3?alt=media&token=6787498e-9804-45e4-a61f-afb3f4ddddb0"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FMary%20Barry.jpg?alt=media&token=73c6f228-1903-4e74-bb9d-48616b40a5be"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FNP1384053_hi-res.jpg?alt=media&token=51665b22-ed76-445f-a5e6-1352d3f38c88"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FMary's%20Commercial%20Hotel%20-%20Jan%20Smith%202010.jpg?alt=media&token=5ddfee6e-4a99-4cea-a131-3bbba6edb334"},{"type":"text","content":"Across regional Queensland local pubs were always the social heart of the town. In Dalby, the Commercial Hotel was a long standing part of this history, built on this site in 1885.\n\nHere you’ll find one of Dalby’s newest and most vibrant spaces, Mary’s Place, celebrating the memory and legacy of one of Dalby’s most treasured icons, Mary Barry and her ‘Commercial Hotel’. As you explore the site, be sure to stop and enjoy the story of Mary and her contribution to the town of Dalby, highlighted on signs throughout the space.\n\n"}]},{"address":"R787+986 Dalby","placeId":null,"location":{"longitudeDelta":0.15858376453835404,"latitudeDelta":0.09219986310369421,"latitude":-27.184087508155798,"longitude":151.26326559999998},"media":[{"type":"text","content":"# St John's Anglican Church"},{"ttsForStop":true,"type":"audio","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FDiscovering%20Dalby%20-%20VO%20-%20Stop%2010%20-%2001.mp3?alt=media&token=20eb813f-a5f1-49ba-b3ef-299e62cb45f2"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FDAL%20Church%2005.JPG?alt=media&token=4f208595-1345-4e30-addc-03360ca6378f"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FChurch%20of%20England%201940.png?alt=media&token=b33e3d40-94d7-4f62-942c-672a15958ea3"},{"type":"text","content":"Welcome to Saint John's Anglican Church! This church has stood here for over a century, witnessing the many changing faces of the town.\n\nThe first Church of England service was held in Dalby on May 25, 1851, in the home of Hugh Ross.\n\nThe first church, a small brick structure with an iron roof was built in 1866 with services before this time held in diverse venues such as private homes, a woolshed and even the courthouse. This church eventually succumbing to the black soil and movement of the foundations\n\nNow take a moment to appreciate the grandeur and beauty of Saint John's Anglican Church. Look up, the last of three church buildings to occupy this site, the existing church, was built in 1922-23 in early Gothic English Style the design favoured by provincial and parish churches in the Homeland.\n\nWith the new church came Rev Frank Knight (later Archdeacon) a member of the Bush Brotherhood (a group of Anglican itinerant priests who were described as a \"band of men\" who could preach like \"Apostles\" and \"ride like cowboys\" having experienced hard service in the west of QLD.\n\nArchdeacon Knight stood a Rector of St. Johns Dalby for 33 years and was responsible for setting up girl guiding in Dalby in 1928, one of the few still going in Queensland.\n\nAs Bruce Springsteen once said, \"A church doesn't just come alive when people are there. A church is alive all the time.\" And at Saint John's Anglican Church, you can feel the history and spirit that radiates from within these walls.\n\n"}]},{"address":"R786+6M8 Dalby","placeId":null,"location":{"longitudeDelta":0.15858376453835404,"latitudeDelta":0.09219986310369421,"latitude":-27.18446250815594,"longitude":151.26170315},"media":[{"type":"text","content":"# St Joseph's Catholic Church"},{"ttsForStop":true,"type":"audio","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FDiscovering%20Dalby%20-%20VO%20-%20Stop%2011%20-%2002.mp3?alt=media&token=b1612c4a-9ed8-4031-96b3-2cb6368be476"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FIMG-5540.jpg?alt=media&token=6efa4d31-3328-4830-bb55-b876ded4a3f1"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2Fearliest%20photo%20of%20St%20Joseph's.jpeg?alt=media&token=7f8e9fc8-323d-4840-84a6-9376372f51d4"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2FCatholic%20Church%201895.jpg?alt=media&token=c33d3c73-17de-4dd3-b809-fe0de4385160"},{"type":"img","content":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/freeguides-prod.appspot.com/o/assets%2Ftours%2FaguZklIPoSe0i1l2k1Rn%2Ffirst%202%20churches.jpg?alt=media&token=27585249-55b7-40ed-b84f-81df10619588"},{"type":"text","content":"Welcome to Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church, an iconic landmark representing the Roman Catholic activities which date back over 170 years when a little group gathered in the home of Mr and Mrs Samuel Stewart to assist in the first mass celebrated in 1849.\n\nMary and Samuel at just 19 and 20 years of age made the decision to leave Ireland in 1840 and move to the colony of NSW, only 52 years after the first fleet arrived there, a decision that would surely have unsettled their families.\n\nWith promises of opportunities for work, arriving in Sydney, they moved a little north finding work in the Hunter Valley and later onto the newly settled Darling Downs on the sprawling Cecil Plains Station before they finally built the first Inn at the Crossing on the Myall Creek called the Travellers Inn.\n\nThe northern parts of NSW were still very much frontier and pioneering country until the late 1840s 1850s and QLD was not separated from NSW until the Middle of 1859.\n\nAs the population of the district grew so did the need for a place of worship. The first church, a small brick church, was built in 1866 and was almost destroyed in a severe storm before completion. In 1886 this church was replaced by a wooden structure and had to be demolished in 1916 due to white ants.\n\nThe Foundation stone of the existing church was laid and blessed by Archbishop Duhig of Brisbane 14 May 1920 and dedicated to St Joseph in December 1921. One which has stood the test of time.\n\n"},{"type":"text","content":"**Local man Barry O'Shea recalls when his grandfather, William Hoffman spoke of the sense of community pride that seemed to develop during the church's final construction.\n\nThe expanding nature of the black soil was, and still is, a challenge for stable foundations for brick buildings in Dalby. During this time volunteer drivers with 'German wagons' called on all properties in the town collecting donated rocks and large stones.\n\nThe foundation trenches under the outside brick walls were dug by hand with a crowbar and shovel 1.8m deep. Coarse sand from the Condamine Riverbed at Loudoun was screened and mixed with Portland cement on a piece of flat tin to form a mortar. This was barrowed into the trench. The donated rocks and stone were then thrown in to provide reinforcement for the mass of the footing.**\n\n"},{"type":"text","content":"With a grand church came grand preparations for the opening on Sunday 4 December 1921. Visitors from across Southern QLD had to be catered for. Coordination included the arrangement of extra trains in and out of Dalby, with police to close the streets for processions and to manage crowds.\n\nTwo thousand excited Catholics of all ages were waiting expectantly on the platform of the Dalby Railway Station. Government delegates, ecclesiastical visitors, locals and the curious non-Catholic attendees formed some of the other thousands as they prepared themselves for the ceremonies to come.\n\nDesigned by architects Hennessy and Hennessy of Sydney, St Joseph's church was built in Romanesque style at a cost of 12,000-13,000 pounds.\n\nThe Church stands 120ft or 37m long and 38ft or 12m wide, truly making it a sight to behold.\n\nThe barrel ceiling is pressed metal which can be seen in many of the great basilicas in Rome\n\nThe stained-glass window reflects symbols of the central celebration of Catholics and creates a kaleidoscope of light across the church interior.\n\nThe beautiful wheel window on the front wall is a memorial to the fallen of WW1 gifted by Mrs Margaret Evans of Dalby whose son Arthurs Thomas Evans had been killed in action in France in 1917.\n\nThis project is an initiative of Western Downs Regional Council and we thank you for joining us on this historical journey and spending time at Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church, a testament to the perseverance and spirit of our community. It's been a pleasure to share with you the tales of this remarkable landmark that truly is a touchstone of our heritage.\n\nAs we conclude our tour, we encourage you to keep exploring our region. Visit our charming local restaurants or lively bars to get a taste of our vibrant community and culture. Every corner of our town offers a new experience and story waiting to be discovered.\n\nThe Dalby Visitor Information Centre is always ready to guide you towards your next adventure, whether it be a quiet café, a bustling shop, or a captivating tour.\n\nWe appreciate your interest in our history and hope that you leave with an enriched understanding and love for our town. This tour, an initiative of the Western Downs Regional Council, thrives thanks to curious explorers like you. See you at the next stop!\n\n"}]}]