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THE HISTORY OF HIBBARD
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THE AREA WE KNOW TODAY AS HIBBARD TAKES ITS NAME FROM THE TIMBER MILLS THAT ONCE OPERATED THERE. PORT MACQUARIE’S HIBBARD AND HAINES SAWMILLS WERE ESTABLISHED IN 1879 AT HAMILTON ALONG THE HASTINGS RIVER. THE TOWN WAS LATER RENAMED HIBBARD.
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rom the early 1880s the timber industry was a major employer and income source for the population of the Hastings. A newspaper report in 1882 described the Hamilton mills: “… The sawmills are the largest of their kind northward of Sydney, until the border of Queensland. This mill … turns out 45,000 superfeet of hardwood per week, which are manufactured into all the styles of timber required by the Sydney market, such as flooring, weatherboarding etc … The buildings of the mill are extensive and the works comprise two steam engines, three circular saws and two vertical frame saws. There are about 30 men employed … A steam punt working with gear brings about 25,000 superfeet of logs on each trip and from this supply, the sawmills are kept going …” By 1894, Hamilton had grown to include its own school, post office and dance hall. Mill workers were encouraged to build their own cottages from materials supplied by their employer. Hamilton also sported its own football and cricket teams made up of mill workers. Numerous other mills opened up across the Hastings supplying timber to centres both in Australia and overseas, and it is not surprising that two of the six aldermen elected to the first Port Macquarie Municipal Council in May 1887 were sawmill operators.
The Hibbard family sold their interests in the Hamilton saw mills to The British Australian Timber Company Ltd in 1911. For much of the time, the Hamilton saw mills was the largest single employer in town. However, sometimes the mills were closed due to plant breakdowns and poor river access for shipping. In June 1921 the saw mills closed for an indefinite period, with all employees given a week’s notice, and in March 1932 the Hibbard mill had only operated for six weeks of the year. Saw milling was dangerous work. In 1895 a Hamilton mill employee was injured whilst cutting palings: “… Mr T. Fry was cutting palings on one of the circular saws when one of his fellow employees threw a board on to the heap from whence it bounced on the back of the saw and on to Mr. Fry’s face, knocking him down and severely disfiguring him …”. Some injuries were fatal, such as those of Edward Meehan, who was killed instantly in 1907 when a long piece of timber got caught in the circular saw, inflicting a wound to his lower neck. When the mills closed for the final time in 1958, its 21 mill workers were producing over one million feet of sawn timber each year. Visit Timber! the exhibition and The Forest Courtyard at the Port Macquarie Museum for more stories about our rich timber history. The Museum is open Monday to Sunday throughout the holidays.