{"id":111901,"date":"2015-06-25T00:40:02","date_gmt":"2015-06-24T14:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=111901"},"modified":"2020-11-12T13:04:52","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T03:04:52","slug":"a-town-gone-but-not-forgotten","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2015\/06\/25\/a-town-gone-but-not-forgotten\/","title":{"rendered":"A Town Gone But Not Forgotten"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sisters Maree McCullagh, Kingaroy; Colleen MacKenzie, Toowoomba; and Claire Biddle, Scarborough, are grand-daughters of Hugh Connolly, who constructed the Bunya Mountains timber tramway<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Historian Liz Caffery collated, edited and laid out the new Wengenville book<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

June 25, 2015<\/strong><\/p>\n

Memories of the South Burnett\u2019s forgotten town, Wengenville, have been captured forever in a book launched at the Bunya Mountains on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The book was collated and edited by Nanango historian Liz Caffery from information gathered by the Bunya Mountains Natural History Association for the 2013 “Back To Wengenville” day.<\/p>\n

Wengenville is a timber town that formerly existed at the foot of the mountains.\u00a0 It was centred around a sawmill that operated from 1922 to 1961.<\/p>\n

The town was once big enough to have its own hall, school, shops and a main street of houses.<\/p>\n

There are many South Burnett residents who grew up there, attended school and remember dances at the hall.<\/p>\n

But all that ended when the mill closed. The town quickly died and the buildings were hauled away.<\/p>\n

Today all that is left is a cattle paddock, a private residence and some signs erected by South Burnett Regional Council in 2013 at the \u201cBack To Wengenville\u201d reunion.<\/p>\n

The 120-page book was officially launched at the Bunya Mountains Natural History Association\u2019s museum, \u201cCedarvale\u201d, at Dandabah by South Burnett mayor Wayne Kratzmann.<\/p>\n

Mayor Kratzmann emphasised the importance of recording local history like this.<\/p>\n

“If you forget your history, you forget who you are and from there there’s not much point in being on the planet,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mrs Caffery said she had been impressed by the “spirit” of Wengenville as she was compiling the book.<\/p>\n

“What a community it must have been,” she said. “An intricate network of families and friendships.”<\/p>\n

The book is available from the Bunya Mountains Natural History Association. Cost is $25 (plus postage) but only 250 copies have been printed.<\/p>\n

For more information, contact John or Sandy Learmont on 0409-625-865 or by email<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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