Depression Sustenance workers' Camp site

Statement of Significance

• The site has historic and social value for its association with the government programme of providing 'Sustenance' work for men during the Depression
• The site is associated with the timber industry which was once active in the district.

Physical Description

Not assessed

History

A timber mill was built on this site c1922. In addition to the mill machinery the site included a number of ancillary buildings; a mill manager's house, married men cottages and a single men's quarters. The mill was served by a tram line and a well was dug on the site for the workers and their families. The mill closed in 1928 and the buildings remained on the site.

In 1931, the former mill site and buildings were used as the nucleus for a camp site occupied by workers engaged for the Government Harvey River Diversion Scheme.

During the Depression, men on sustenance payments were moved to sites across the state to work on government projects. Within the Shire of Harvey the major project was the diversion drain.

Known as the 'Mill Campsite', the former Mill Manager's house became the head office for the PWD staff. Three engineers employed on the project lived in tents with their wives and nearby 1500 men camped in tents surrounded by barb wire which stopped animals getting into the campsite.

The former married men's quarters was used as a first aid post and the single men's cottages were occupied by various shops including, a butcher, two fruit and vegetable shops, cake shop, hop beer shop and a grocery. A large marquee was erected as a boarding house for men who didn't want to cook for themselves.

Each tent was home to two men and on arrival, workers were issued equipment, including a straw paillasse, a stretcher bed and work tools. Additions to these basic facilities were often developed by the men, including for example, punching holes in the bottom of a kerosene tin to create a shower. Some of the men chose to build their own bark shelters in the adjacent bush.

Sustenance pay was £2/10/- weekly, which left men a few shillings for personal use after allotments to families, as welfare payments did not then exist. From this salary the men purchased food from the local farmers.

Some men broke under the hard, unrelenting conditions while others developed new skills - gardening, making wooden toys and treasure boxes for distant family.

In 1934, when the irrigation channels were completed, the camp buildings were sold and taken away and the site was subsequently planted with pine trees.

Integrity/Authenticity

Nil/ Nil

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.