MURPHYS CREEK
Historic, Heritage & Railway Sites
www.luvyalockyer.com.au
SELF GUIDED WALK 1
SELF GUIDED WALK OF MURPHYS CREEK HISTORIC BUILDINGS AND SITES The area where Murphys Creek is situated has been continuously known locally as Murphys Creek since people settled the area in the 1840’s. Locals named the area after Peter Murphy (a ticket of leave man) who had worked on Helidon Run since 1841, as shepherd and later as a manager. He was well known and respected by the emigrants who settled on the Run when it was later broken up.
Generally open on Saturday 10am - 12 noon and Sunday 10am - 3pm. Please check the Facebook page @JessiesCottageMuseum for further information or group bookings.
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Lockyer Siding Station - The station, built in the 1870’s was moved to its present location in the 1990’s to be used by the community of Murphys Creek as a sports pavilion. Situated beside a BBQ facility and the Animal Memorial, (for the animal victims of the 2011 flood event) it is a quiet place to relax and enjoy the sounds of the country.
Police Station - The police station/house is heritage listed and is now privately owned. The Police Station was built in 1872 and the first Constable to reside with his family in the house was Constable O’Loan. When the building operated as a police station there was a cell attached to the rear side of the residence. Unfortunately it was removed in the 1970’s.
In the mid 1860’s Governor Bowen named the township Fingal and planned the layout of a township. The street names are the only remaining evidence of Fingal. The name Fingal persisted in official records into the 1910’s, although the railway station had always been known as Murphys Creek.
When a police presence was no longer required in Murphys Creek the house became the property of the railway and was used into the 1960’s for a succession of night managers and their families.
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Photography and information for Jessie’s Cottage Local History Museum - © Susan Stilgoe
Jessie’s Cottage (Local History Museum) - The cottage was built in 1899 by the Taylor family, who had emigrated from Scotland in 1879. The house was restored on its original site in 1997 by the community and used as a meeting place until 2011 when it was opened to visitors. In 2018 Jessie’s Cottage became a Local History Museum and continues to research, collect and record the history of local settler families and residents.
Murphys Creek Railway Bridge - A small road passes under this bridge, which also crosses the creek. This is a good place to see trains coming from Toowoomba. Double header diesel locomotives pulling coal and grain wagons cross this bridge several times a day. The railway bank behind the Murphys Creek Rural Fire Brigade Station was severely impacted by the 2011 flood and the rails were hanging approximately three feet off ground level. The embankment had to be completely re-built before services could resume.
Jessie’s Cottage Local History Museum (JCLHM) has many stories from the various railway families who resided in the house from the 1930’s, including a description of the cell.
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The aftermath of the 2011 flood left the building severely damaged and equipment washed away, but with the insurance money and a generous grant from RACQ the station was rebuilt. Communications and training rooms were added to help emergency services operate locally in future community disasters.
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Please check the Facebook page @RURALFIRE.MURPHYSCK for further information.
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Murphys Creek Rural Fire Brigade Station - The Murphys Creek Rural Fire Brigade was formed in 1970 and after strenuous fundraising the Station was built and officially opened in 1988. The station has been manned by volunteers through many fires and emergencies since.
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“The Old Hall” - The weatherboard section of this building was originally the Withcott Cabaret Hall (behind the Hotel in Withcott). It was donated to the Murphys Creek Progress Association by the Withcott Hotel in 1978. Until the 2011 flood it was used regularly for community meetings and social gatherings. It was also used by the school as an ‘overflow’ classroom before the school acquired extra rooms on site. After the flood the hall was deemed unsafe for public use and until sufficient funds are found to restore it, it remains closed.
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Murphys Creek State School - This school is one of the first state public schools established in Queensland. The school was built in 1870, after a letter written by the local settlers in 1867 to the Queensland Education Department, assured the government that they would send their children to the school. Thirty one children had been guaranteed to attend by their parents, but on opening day fourty-six pupils enrolled!
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Please check the Facebook page @MurphysCreekStateSchool for further information.
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The Heritage listing says: Murphys Creek Railway Complex is important in demonstrating the evolution of transport patterns in Queensland’s railway history, in particular the establishment and development of Queensland’s Railways during the steam locomotive era 1865-1969.
“Mount Blow” (In Ossian Street) Joseph Handley and family settled on several hundred acres of land surrounding the house in the 1870’s. The present house was built in 1899-1900. Jessie’s Cottage Local History Museum have an itemised list of the furniture and fittings that were included in the 1900 rebuild. The Handley family sold the property in the early 1970’s and the house has had several owners who have retained much of the original building while making modern improvements.
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Murphys Creek Tavern - The Tavern was built in 2010 and opened that December, just one month before the January 2011 flood event in Murphys Creek. Although the floor had been flooded, the tavern was quickly cleaned up and used over the next weeks as a hub for the emergency and social services, also becoming a temporary caravan park for several local families displaced by the flood. Enclosing the grassy area in front of the tavern are large logs removed from the Kings Railway Bridge, constructed by the navvies from Fountains Camp (Murphys Creek) in 1866. The timbers salvaged from the bridge were donated by Queensland
Loading Ramps: Heritage Listed - In front of the Tavern is the heritage listed loading ramp. It is at the end of the fork-line/triangle. Bullock teams hauled logs to the shunting yards and onto flat wagons which were left in the yards. Carts and trucks were loaded with goods from the trains. Cream cans, timber logs and other produce from the farms in the area were transported to the goods trains and so were loaded onto the trains in this area.
Water Tower: Heritage Listed Murphys Creek Railway Station was established as “a feeding place for the engines”, which included filling thirsty steam engines. The water tank was essential for this purpose. This tank is very rare as most tanks were demolished at the end of the steam locomotive era.
Railway Museum - The earliest station was built with a booking office in 1867 when the railway line was completed between Ipswich and Toowoomba. A timber platform and ladies waiting room was added in 1878. Not a lot of the current station is original, as it was extended and rebuilt several times over the years. Very wide chamfer boards on one end may be a remnant of the 1870’s building. Saved from removal after the station was closed, the Murphys Creek Progress Association Inc. owns and maintains the station and leases the land from Queensland Rail. The station is home to the Murphys Creek Railway Museum which holds many records and items of interest, as well as the history of the railway.
Rail to the members of the Murphys Creek Community ‘in recognition of their enduring spirit’ after the 2011 flood. For more information on the activities, specials offered and for bookings refer to the Murphys Creek Tavern Facebook page.
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For more information and for tours of the station contact Murphys Creek Progress Association email: mcprogress@hotmail.com.
Presbyterian Church - Walking up Thor Street from the Station Master’s house you will find the Presbyterian Church. From early 1862 travelling Pastors came to the village to conduct services. By 1872 with the financial support of the local community the church was built. This church was available for all other protestant faiths as needed within the community. A number of weddings, christenings and funeral services have been recorded in the church. There was a manse for the resident minister behind the church which was
removed in the 1970’s. It is only due to a lack of ‘outside facilities’ that the church is not in use today.
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Station Master’s House - To your left from the station, on the corner of Thor Street, is an original Station Master’s House built for railway employees. Few of the original railway houses are left in Murphys Creek, most were removed or demolished when the railway closed their operations in Murphys Creek in the 1960’s. When steam engines were replaced by diesel engines the need for railway staff in Murphys Creek diminished significantly. Murphys Creek Store - This shop was built in 1864 by Henry Chapman and was known as Chapmans Shop into the 1920’s. Part of the shop was destroyed by a deliberately lit fire in 1924. Two years later the owner’s residence beside it was also deliberately destroyed by the same person. Some months on, an anonymous letter was received by the family, apologising for destroying the house and shop. No-one was ever charged for these offences.
Parts of the original shop are still evident within the present structure.
The War Memorial - Commemorates the young men from the Murphys Creek area who volunteered and sacrificed their lives serving their country in times of war. The Flood Memorial - is a part of the sculpture trail of the Lockyer Valley; to remember the residents who were lost in the 2011 flood event.
“The Triangle”: Heritage Listed - The railway line through Murphys Creek was a single line for many years and trains were shunted on to the fork-line or triangle. The trains from Brisbane were assessed and divided – for the ascent of the Range. Shunting procedures up and back on the fork-line were routine day and night. To go up the Range, passenger trains took on an extra engine in front, and goods trains had an extra engine on the rear. The area between the triangle and the tavern had a number of railway sheds for storage and maintenance works and early in the twentieth century would have been very busy. (Google Earth)