Mt Crosby a short history from Karana Mt-Crosby on Vimeo.
John Oxley and Alan Cunningham were the first Europeans to discover the Mt Crosby district. Their survey of the Brisbane River in 1824 terminated between Colleges Crossing and the Mt Crosby Weir and although disappointed with the dwindling Brisbane River, which dashed Oxley's hopes of an inland marsh, they spent a couple of days exploring the district before returning to Brisbane. During this time they climbed the mountain now known as Mt Crosby and named it Mount Bellevue for its beautiful vista. For reasons that are yet uncertain, the mountain was later renamed Mt Crosby, possibly in reference to the Scottish village of Crosby-on-Eden from which several settlers are said to have originated.
Although George Colledge and Robert Bland selected lots in the district as early as 1854, it took until the 1870s before the majority of blocks were taken up - much slower than surrounding areas because of the poor soil that characterises much of the district and the offer of better land closer to Moggill and Ipswich. The blocks taken up early were almost invariably near the river where selectors expected to find pockets of fertile soil (mainly tertiary alluvium).
A wide variety of commercial crops were attempted from 1860, mostly with limited success due to unsuitable climate, soil or terrain. Pumpkins and corn remained common winter stock feeds for decades, but more exotic crops such as sugar, cotton and tobacco were grown, generally in response to government subsidy schemes between 1860 and 1900. During the 20th century most farms turned to dairying and grazing as the only viable alternatives, with dairying eventually disappearing in the 1970s.
Selections were often characterised by absentee landlords with few plans other than initial exploitation of timber reserves and the hope of a rising market. Being unable to compete in an agrarian sense with nearby areas such as Pullenvale, Moggill and Kholo, the future for Mt Crosby seemed bleak until the Brisbane Board of Waterworks decided in the late 1880s to draw its water supply from Mt Crosby.
By the end of 1890, a company town was established that was later owned by the Metropolitan Water and Sewerage Board (1909-1928) and the Brisbane City Council (1928-1998). During this 108 year period, workers at Mount Crosby were responsible for the maintenance and operation of the Mount Crosby headworks, providing drinking water from the Brisbane River to the suburbs of Brisbane and an increasing number of neighbouring local government areas.
This engineering activity became the mainstay of employment and stability for over 100 years, also enabling many farmers to support themselves without having to relinquish their properties.
The original town of 1890 comprised three engineers' bungalows and four pairs of duplex houses on the Works Hill. These houses were necessary to attract skilled engineers and to maintain the health of the hard working firemen (stokers) who worked at the pumping station. There were many more workers, according to requirements, and they were generally housed in tents located near the river.
With every engineering expansion additional workers were employed and housed to ensure Mt Crosby could always deal independently with adversity and never fail to supply water. This responsibility was taken very seriously and became a common bond among workers and families, many of whom can point to generations who devoted their working lives to the task.
Although work was always nearby, pastimes developed as the twentieth century reached its teens. This was in part due to the influence of highly regarded Chief Engineer, Jack Dann, and also reflected a general improvement in living conditions which continued after the war years. Bowls, tennis, football and cricket clubs combined with dances, sports days and equestrian events to occupy the leisure time of residents whose town remained largely remote from suburban influences well into the 1970s.
Mt Crosby advanced as a water supply town, but rural pursuits and freehold purchases of land were constrained indefinitely by the land acquisitions of the water industry and the remaining lands' poor prospects. Long after market forces had steered neighbouring districts toward subdivision or changes in land use, Mt Crosby was preserved by its circumstances - a kind of time locked Edwardian town.
By the 1970s there was little viable farming being practiced and properties accumulated by several successful rural families began to be sold and subdivided for residential use because the increased mobility of residents made living at Mt Crosby more practical.
Improved mobility also reduced the need for workers to be housed near the waterworks and the trend toward reduced workforces gradually took hold. In 1998, most of the township's houses were offered for freehold sale and Mount Crosby re-emerged as an attractive rural-residential suburb (with a deep sense of purpose and a diverse social, rural and industrial history).
For those interested in our heritage, Mt Crosby offers an unusually well preserved view of its last 120 years of development. While continuing to be an important water supply town, it offers numerous clues to its interesting history, and enough intriguing questions to provide an engaging pastime for locals and visitors alike.
