IT MIGHT sound like something you’d find in a garden, but “Between the Bougainvilleas” is in fact an award-winning heritage trail.
The trail showcases some of Barcaldine’s colourful past, taking you to significant historical sites where maroon-coloured signs point out each site, complete with a photo of what originally stood there.
Booklets are available from the Barcaldine Information Centre. You can either walk or drive along the mapped out heritage trail. Enjoy the sunshine and the great outdoors as you learn the history behind some of Barcaldine’s historic buildings.
Here are some of the places you’ll see during your wanderings as you travel “Between the Bougainvilleas”.
Radio Theatre
The old Radio Theatre was built in 1926 during the era of silent movies and it was still quite young when the “talking movies” arrived in 1931.
In those days, patrons would take their pillow and blankets to the movies and a coal heater in the middle of the gravel floor provided warmth in the winter. In summer, the louvres were all opened to catch any breezes.
In 1986, the building was refloored so it could be used for indoor cricket as well as screening movies. Five years later, the theatre closed its doors, a victim of progress.
But that wasn’t the end of the road for the Radio Theatre. The Arts Council came to the rescue and opened the theatre so movies could be screened on weekends, school holidays and festivals. The only time it’s closed is when it’s in use for a fortnight as the venue of the Art Council’s Art Competition Exhibition and Sale.
Railway Goods Shed
This shed was built in 1866. During the Great Shearers’ Upheaval, the platform along the side of the building was used as a staging place for meetings. When the new railway station was built, the goods shed was moved about 50m up the line. In 1999, it moved again - this time to the then Barcaldine Showground, where it started a new life as a storage shed.
Masonic Lodge
This is a favourite with visitors and lots of people like to snap a photo to take home. The lodge was founded at Dingo Creek in 1876 and the original two-storey corrugated iron building moved to Cometville, Emerald, Bogantungan, Pine Hill and Jericho before coming to Barcaldine in 1886.
I
n 1901, a new temple was built. It was also constructed of corrugated iron, but while the sides and back were left unadorned, the front facade has been a talking point ever since. It was clad with chamferboard that was painstakingly painted with three shades of paint to appear like stonework. Columns, semi-circular windows and a porch completed the facade.
By 1980, the paint was peeling and some of the chamferboards were in poor condition. Thanks to the National Trust, this amazing artistry has been restored to its original condition.
Meetings are held at the temple on the first Saturday of every month except January, and people who would like to tour the interior with a local Mason should contact the Barcaldine Visitor Information Centre.
National Bank
This bank was built in 1906 and operated until 1973. Within a couple of years, it had been moved to the corner of Beech and Gidyea Streets where it started new duties as the Barcaldine Historical Museum.
St Peter’s Anglican Church
Built in 1899, the cypress pine weatherboard structure (pictured left) was topped with a Gothic style steeple. Inside, there are heavy exposed beams and beautifully coloured stained glass windows which have recently been restored. Also see the eagle font and baptismal font and linen which were donated by St Peter’s Yarrow-on-Tyne in England.
And half a dozen pubs …
You can also do an historic pub crawl as there are six hotels in town and they all have interesting pasts. Of them, the Union and the Artesian Hotels are the only two constructions that have survived more than a century.
