By Marie Currie
The village of Kulara which disappeared under the waters of Lake Tinaroo in 1959 was first settled at the end of the nineteenth century. It was not known as Kulara until the building of the railway from Tolga, which reached Yungaburra in 1910. The south side of Wright's Creek was called Allumbah, and the northern side was Ball's Pocket.
When Robson's track from the coast to Herberton was opened, it was necessary to establish staging stations along the track to provide food and rest for the teamsters and their horses. One of these stations was the shanty pub built and operated by Fred Halfpapp on the bank of Forest Creek. It was the first building in the area. Robson's track, from the top of the range, ran through Boar Pocket (later named Barrine), Ball's Pocket, Pinnacle Pocket, then crossed the Barron River at Picnic Crossing and proceeded to Nyleta, then called Carrington.
It was along this track that the first rough bough and bark shelters were built by the timber cutters who had come from the south to cut out the valuable timber for the Crown before the area was opened for settlement.
John Stewart the first settler there, selected an eighty acre lot at the northern end of Allumbah Pocket, between Petersen's and Wright's Creeks which he named "Ferndale". One arm of Tinaburra Waters is called Stewart's Gully.
He cleared, then planted maize, coffee, arrowroot, tea, potatoes, cotton and some fruit trees. His home became a staging point for travellers to and from Boar Pocket.
In 1908 the area from the top of the range to the Barron River was opened for settlement, most lots being one-hundred-and-sixty acres. The settlers were mostly of Anglo-Saxon stock, but there were Germans, Swiss, Danes, Irish and Italians. Homes were built from timber felled on the lots and sawn locally. Payment to the sawmillers was often in the form of more logs.
Pastures were established and dairy cattle bought from those enterprising men who had overlanded large herds from New South Wales. Twenty families selected lots in Boar Pocket area. Kulara, as a railhead, grew rapidly. A hotel was followed by a butcher, saddler, blacksmith, a hall and tearooms. Reserves were planned for sports and a racecourse. At first the Post Office was in the Railway Station. This was superseded by a Post Office and General Store operated by the Misses Molly and Lily Williamson. A school, which is the only building now standing, opened in 1913. Despite an attendance of forty-five at times, it was always a one teacher school.
When a new name was sought prior to the opening of the railway station, the name chosen was that given by the Aborigines to the area around Petersen's Creek where the big fig trees grew. "Coolara" was replaced with Kulara on account of confusion with 'Coolgara"
From early days the local Aborigines, living in small family groups along Petersen's Creek, cheerfully agreed to help the settlers in return for "tucker" and clothes. Some attached themselves to the families on whose farms they lived, adopting their names, sending their children to school and learning the white man's ways. Those who chose to retain the tribal life, were sent to Palm Island.
For a few years Kulara boomed. The timber yard was a hive of activity seven days a week, with bullock and horse teams, and later timber trucks, delivering huge logs and sawn timber from the Boar Pocket sawmill. This was railed to Cairns and further afield.
Dairymen brought their cream to the railway station en route to Golden Grove. Later, a van took the cream to Malanda. Cream Day was quite a day! After unloading, the farmers gathered at the "pub"-the Lake Barrine Hotel- to drink a pint and have a yarn, before collecting mail and supplies, and heading for home.
Most of the women had large families and helped at the dairy. They made their own bread and butter, and kept fowls and ducks. There would be the occasional wedding and dance, they played cards and sang around the family piano. A trip to town by train was a big occasion. Visiting was restricted as they either had to walk or ride a horse as there were no made roads between farms.
Shopping was done through Mail Order catalogues and the monthly order man. The grocer not only delivered the goods but brought news of other settlers. Most of the babies were born at home with Mrs. Andrews, Mrs Stewart or Mrs Malcolm as mid-wives.
Most of the children at the Kulara school came from dairy farms, and helped with the milking before and after school.
After Primary School most girls stayed at home learning housekeeping, cooking and preparing their trousseau. The more adventurous went to Cairns or Atherton to train as nurses. The boys worked clearing, timber cutting or labouring on other farms, or at sawmills. Just a few lucky ones attended boarding school at Herberton or Charters Towers.
In the 1920's Kulara boasted a Rugby team, a tennis club and a racecourse. As more people owned cars, families enjoyed a wider social life. Those who did not own a car could hire Jim Thomas, Jim Molloy or Eric Halfpapp to transport them. These cars were large, with folding "dicky" seats which could be pulled out to accommodate large families. Silent movies were enjoyed in the local hall with an occasional vaudeville show played to an enthusiastic audience.
The depression spelt hardship. The price of butter fell to an all-time low. Farmers could not find employment to augment their income, timber cutting declined, there was no farm work, so the young men had to leave the district.
The sports areas were abandoned and became overgrown by lantana. One by one the stores closed. The little township never recovered.
There was a short respite during the war when a base was established at Boar Pocket. The roads swarmed with military vehicles, the "pub" boomed, dances were revived and the locals opened their homes to the lonely soldiers. Market gardens supplied the army camps with vegetables and again there was money to spend.
The boom was short lived. The end came in 1958 when almost all the buildings were removed before the area was flooded by the dammed Barron River.
Nothing now remains but the small schoolhouse and Riesen's home on the edge of the Lake.
trousseau - a French word that means a bride's outfit of clothes, linen etc. back
vaudeville - a stage show consisting of mixed speciality acts, including songs, dances, comic skits, etc. back
augment - to increase back
respite - a period of temporary relief back