Coastal history showcased

A LITTLE piece of Hervey Bay and Fraser Island history has been installed at Maryborough, with timber from the Urangan Pier used for the sign at the town site.

Fraser Coast Regional councillor Barb Hovard (sitting) inspects the new entry statement at the historic Original Maryborough Site with parks project team members Will Little and Jarvis Fisher with planner Tracey Clayton. Picture: Contributed

A LITTLE piece of Hervey Bay and Fraser Island history has been installed at Maryborough, with timber from the Urangan Pier used to create a sign at the original town site.

Wood from Fraser Island was used to build the pier, which opened in 1917.

It was trimmed and milled by the Fraser Coast Regional Council's carpenters to create the new entry statement, which has been inlaid with stainless steel lettering.

The 3m sign also doubles as a seat at the entrance to the Original Maryborough Site on the corner of Alice and Aldridge Sts, which is one of only a few original town sites in Australia relatively untouched.

The site, which was established by first European settlers in 1847, now has walking trails through the area where homes and buildings once stood.

Artefacts dug up from the site by archaeologists are on display in Customs House in Wharf St.

Works undertaken so far at the site include concreting the floor of the old slab hut and replacing old post-and-rail fencing adjacent to the hut.

The Fraser Coast Regional Council also plans to install stainless steel panels under the slab hut, telling the story of the site, add tables and seats, replace a chain wire fence with timber pickets, and install brass plaques next to headstones to relay information that can no longer be read on the stones.

Wood from Fraser Island was used to build the pier.

Originally published as Coastal history showcased