April 19, 2013
Kingaroy’s 1913 Council Chambers building in Edward Street is celebrating its centenary in June this year, and the South Burnett Genealogical and Family History Society didn’t want the occasion to pass unnoticed.
The old wooden building was Kingaroy Shire’s first council offices. It was originally located in Haly Street but was shifted to its current location when the 1938 Chambers (now the Kingaroy Regional Art Gallery) was built.
The Chambers would have been a busy place during those hectic years of Kingaroy’s early growth, and they’ve hosted some famous visitors along the way, including then-Prime Minister Andrew Fisher in 1915.
“He came up to speak to a group of farmers who were protesting about low tariffs on the importation of maize,” society member John McAleer said.
“Farmers were having problems with imports even back then.”
The Genealogical Society has mounted a display of historic photographs, documents and newspaper clippings in the front room of the 1913 Chambers this week to help mark the centenary of the building.
They have also opened their Family History room inside for public inspection.
Tomorrow (April 20) is the last day of the exhibition, which will run from 10:00am to 4:00pm.
At 1:30pm, Cr Cheryl Dalton will be present to provide a short history of the building.
UPDATE April 21, 2013: It seems that the centenary hadn’t been forgotten after all.
The South Burnett Regional Council announced on their Facebook page at the weekend that a Centenary celebration would be held on Saturday, June 8, at the Kingaroy Information, Art and Heritage Precinct with art and craft markets “and much, much more”.
