May 1, 2024
The Stonehouse in Moore will be celebrating its 150th birthday on Saturday, July 27, and South Burnett Regional Council has been invited to be part of the celebrations.
The Stonehouse was one of the first settlements in the Upper Brisbane Valley.
It was built between 1874 and 1888. by Gloucestershire stonemason Robert Williams, who went on to become one of the most outstanding selectors in the area, and his property quickly became the area’s hotel, inn, post office and stagecoach stop for travellers journeying to the South Burnett.
Williams died, aged 64, and was buried in the Moore-Linville Cemetery in 1907.
And after many years of neglect, ownership of the Stonehouse passed to former Gold Coast couple Loretta and John Eastwood in 2012.
Since then, the pair have been working steadily over the past 12 years to restore the historic property, raising funds at regular Open Days to carry on the painstaking reconstruction of the hand-hewn complex.
The 150th birthday will be a weekend-long celebration, but a highlight of the festivities will be on the Saturday with the burial of a 25-year time capsule to inform future generations what life was like in area in the early 21st century.
South Burnett, Toowoomba and Somerset councils have been invited to submit items to be included in the time capsule, such as photographs, an A5-size letter, newspaper clippings ands possibly a rates notice.
Councillors received an invitation to take part in the 150th birthday celebrations at April’s General Meeting, and a decision to take up the offer was moved by Mayor Kathy Duff, seconded by Cr Deb Dennien and carried unanimously.
Councillors also moved that Cr Linda Little will be the SBRC’s representative on Brisbane Valley Heritage Trails Inc, which is organising the time capsule.
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