TWO very different but, as it turns out, related aspects of Korumburra’s history are commemorated by a new monument opposite the town’s Austral Hotel, the plaque of which was unveiled on Thursday, July 4.
The plaque on a pillar of bricks commemorates the ‘Top of the Town’ building that once stood at the site but also recalls Korumburra’s coal mining past.
The bricks form a connection between the two, sourced from the Austral Mine boiler room chimney and used to extend the brickwork on the ‘Top of the Town’ by the building’s then owner Bill Fisher, a bricklayer in the 1950s, to establish his business.
He ran a hardware and building supplies store there.
Bill’s daughter-in-law Elaine Fisher was among the attendees at the low-key but significant plaque unveiling ceremony.
She recalled Bill as fairly stern and a very hard worker, saying she was proud to be at the ceremony representing her family and is delighted at the historical recognition the monument provides.
Doug Boston and Gerald Brockelsby of Korumburra & District Historical Society both played a part in the plaque’s design, putting the story together and gathering photos from the society’s collection, with Bob Parry creating the plaque.
Peter Cook from the South Gippsland Shire Council organised its mounting and construction of the pillar on which it sits.
Korumburra & District Historical Society was responsible for the monument, with its president Bob Newton expressing his appreciation to all involved.
Doug feels a connection to the area’s mining history, his grandfather having been killed in the Jumbunna mine in 1898.
The ‘Top of the Town’ was built in 1892 by William Nuttall as a Temperance Hotel (unlicensed boarding house).
Many businesses operated at the site over the subsequent years, including J. Lees Fruit and Confectionary, Duncan Robertson Grocer, the aforementioned Fisher Builder and Hardware, a pizza shop, a fish and chip business, a dentist, and a Chinese restaurant.
Terry Waycott was in attendance on Thursday, Duncan Robertson being his great grandfather, and spoke of Duncan’s long association with the ‘Top of the Town’.
“It’s part of our family history but we don’t know a lot about him, except that he ran it from 1908 to 1945; we wish we knew a bit more about what his contribution was to the Korumburra community but he was obviously a retailer for 37 years, so it’s a fair effort at the site of this building,” Terry said.
Historical Society president Bob and locally based councillor Jenni Keerie unveiled the impressive plaque following Bob’s speech on the history of the ‘Top of the Town’ and the Austral Mine.
“It recognises lots of people with this cairn and the plaque, our early coal miners, the history of them, and our early shopkeepers,” Bob said.
He explained that the Austral Mine was located on the Korumburra South Road in the area where Fisher’s timber yard now sits.
