Buxton is one of those hidden gems coveted by people seeking a quieter lifestyle.
It provides the opportunity to laze away the days, to fish and crab without the distraction of coffee shops and supermarkets.
With little more than 400 permanent residents, it’s no great task to locate a quiet spot and perhaps wet a line in the adjacent Burrum River (when allowed) which is central to Buxton’s casual lifestyle.
Grand things were planned for the area when it was surveyed way back in the 1880’s.
It was proposed to be a river port with customs and quarantine facilities, but, obviously this never came to fruition.
The positioning of the North Coast Railway line through nearby Isis Junction provided another reason why Buxton was expected to blossom as a major centre.
Several names used for Buxton
Interestingly, the riverside village, located just 20 kilometres from the Bruce Highway and a 20-minute drive south of Childers, has had several names including Buxtonville, Newport and Burrumba.
The name Buxtonville was reportedly shortened to Buxton when postcodes were introduced into Australia in 1967.
According to long-time property owner Doreen Cole in her book, “Buxton by the Burrum”, the land around Buxton was surveyed in 1886 by the Isis Investment Company after purchasing the land from one Sarah Kennedy.
Ms Kennedy had acquired the property in 1855.
Mrs Cole’s father purchased land at Buxton in 1925 and the family have held property there ever since.
She said the first phone to Buxton was connected in 1942 while power was eventually introduced into the town some 40 years later in December 1982.
The community is serviced by a convenience store, which, among its usual items, is also licensed to sell alcohol.
Talk with the locals and they will clearly define “new” and “old” Buxton.
New Buxton is a more recently settled area which involved allotments created through private and Council development.
Garden of Eden
Old Buxton boasts some of the earlier homes that have been converted from rustic holiday weekenders into an eclectic collection of dwellings providing the village with its inherent charm.
Buxton is serviced by an excellent road and Council ensures the community enjoys advantages such as a community hall, waste transfer station and boat ramp with pontoon nearby.
Visitors and locals alike enjoy a short stroll through the “Garden of Eden”, a defined paved track which winds itself through a tea tree swamp connecting old and new Buxton.
Amusingly, a local “weather station”, conveniently located riverside, provides advice to fishermen uncertain if they should head out on the water in their “tinnies”..
A plaque attached to a man-sized boulder proclaims:
The Buxton Weather Rock advises:
If my head is cold and wet,
Don’t launch your ‘tinnie’ yet,
But if I’m warm and dry,
Don’t let this great day pass you by.
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There was a swimming enclosure there at one time , around 1954, when we camped. Barretts and Buetels had houses there and Ozzie Green who along with his many children fished and crabbed the river. We have a picture of some of our boys on the old “long wooden swing” that was on the riverside. There were 2 of those swings at Woodgate at one time too.
Margaret (Heaton) Irwin.
There was a boat shed there too with about 12 stalls. 6 up and 6 down. Dad , Mick (Vincent Snr)) Heaton kept his boat there sometimes. The Isis Anglers used to fish there at times.