LOCAL HISTORY: Man's body buried 'almost in middle of town'

VERY few people would realise as they go about their business in the CBD that some areas were once burial sites.

Bundaberg's first cemetery was located where many shop today. Picture: David Nielsen

VERY few people would realise as they go about their business in the CBD that some areas were once burial sites.

According to Bundaberg Regional Library documents, early settlers did not expect the city centre to grow as much as it did.

So the original cemetery was on the block bordered by Woondooma, Woongarra, Maryborough and McLean Sts.

It is unknown how many people were buried in the area, but in 1873 it suddenly came apparent just how badly plans needed to change.

An elderly man had died, and reports at the time listed that he would be getting buried "almost in the middle of town".

By the late 1870s, locals had become highly critical of the cemetery in the heart of town and in the 1880s the council started a tendering process for the removal and relocation of bodies from the city.

In 1882, the bodies had all been relocated to the newer cemetery grounds.

A two-storey home was built over the original site, which now houses the shops across the road from the old Blockbuster building. 

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