Said to be a rain-making site where a rainbow descends into the North Pine River, indicating the presence of a precious stone, Petrie’s heritage-listed Sweeney’s Reserve is steeped in legend.
In pioneering days, the custodian of the rain-making site, the Bora Ring, and ‘Mandin’ (a fishing hole) at Sweeney’s Reserve, was First Nations People’s Elder and Rainmaker of the Turrbal Clan, Dalaipi (1795-1863).
From 1840, the reserve was a rafting ground for timber-getters and a spot to rest travelling stock. Pioneer settler Tom Petrie introduced a punt in 1859 to facilitate river crossings at low tide. A decade on, Cobb and Co. stagecoaches crossed here en route to the Gympie goldfields, influenced perhaps by the opening of Petrie’s Accommodation House on the northern riverbank in 1870.
Still visible in the eastern section of the reserve are the raised embankments constructed in 1868. These formed the approaches to Sir Arthur’s Bridge, the first road bridge over the North Pine (1877). Until 1936, this carriageway was the main coastal route northward, forming part of the original Gympie Road.
From River Crossing to Popular Recreation Reserve
In an era when trains were the primary means of transport, the opening of the railway in March 1888 ushered in a heyday for Sweeney’s Reserve. Councillor A. J. Wyllie’s Grandson, Allan Meek, remembers crowds walking there from Petrie Station, carrying picnic baskets and swimming togs.
In the 1920s, during the Christmas holidays, newspapers reported over 1000 people attending Sweeney’s Reserve on Sundays, attracted by bands playing music, rowing, and safe swimming holes. With the addition of a kiosk, first operated by returned serviceman Joe Findlay in 1921, the area became a favoured choice for company picnics, school break-up parties and a place to escape the summer heat.
In 1926, Terence Patrick Sweeney secured a lease over the kiosk and later, the entire reserve, moving amenities to higher ground after the 1928 flood. He added a slippery slide and rope swings, and built a house for his family, reportedly built from wooden car crates. Visitors enjoyed his pet emus and kangaroos.
Officially gazetted as a recreation reserve in 1924 and a sanctuary for the protection of birds and animals (1929), the escalating repair costs from recurring floods saw the Pine Rivers Council relinquish control over the reserve, appointing Sweeney as caretaker in 1932.
When Sweeney’s daughter, Patsy Eviston, died in the 1990s, the council resumed control and the residence was demolished.
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