OOPAL - "Place of Emu's"
Emu
Park was gazetted as a township on January 9th, 1869. It was not
called Emu Park then, it was given the name Hewittville, after the man who
battled so hard for its establishment. Mr Gregory, the Government Surveyor,
objected to its being gazetted as he favoured the area now known as Yeppoon. As
a result of his objection there was a hold up in the sale of land, but as the
people of Rockhampton – and there were many of them who visited the area –
favoured it, Mr Gregory’s objection was overruled and the first land sale took
place in Rockhampton on May 18th, 1870.
The first land put up for sale by the Crown comprised five
sections. The upset price was 8 pound per acre.
It was not until 1871 that buildings started to go up. One of
the first was built by Mr Rees R. Jones on the corner of Emu and Granville
Street; other houses were built, but building was slow, owing to the difficulty
of getting material to the Park. This had to be brought in by dray and bullock
teams. Mr Charles Redman conducted this class of business and Mr Robert Hewitt
started a mail and passenger service, which he continued for a considerable
time. It was a once a week service, leaving Rockhampton on Saturday and
returning on Monday morning; it took four hours to journey from Rockhampton,
even with a good pair of horses.
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