History

In 2023, the Mudgeeraba Hall celebrates its centenary as the cornerstone of Mudgeeraba village.

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The value of the hall and what it means to the community of Mudgeeraba, Springbrook and surrounding districts is best understood by its history.

The present day hall sits on a rise overlooking the floodplain of Mudgeeraba Creek, as it flows down from the Springbrook escarpment. The traditional people of this land, the Kombumerri clan, named this land Mudgeeraba, perhaps meaning ‘low lying ground’ or ‘place of sticky mud’. In the Dreaming, the peaks of the Springbrook plateau are called  Ningeroongun and Barrajanda, named after the two hunting dogs of legendary hunter called Gwayla, which are buried under the peaks.

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For tens of thousands of years, Kombumerri people played music, sang and danced at Mudgeeraba corroborees, featuring instruments like possum skin drums, gum leaves and clapsticks. Early European settlers once witnessed over 600 women playing drums at a Mudgeeraba ceremony.

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170 years ago, European timber getters first arrived in the district, cut tracks through the bush and floated logs downstream. After that came the squatters, who carved out huge estates on which they chiefly ran cattle. Farmland was opened up to selectors in 1869, which brought many families into the district.

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In the 1890’s, the first hall was established by William Laver, adjacent to the ‘Hampshire Terrace Hotel’, near the present day Franklin Drive. This was the site of the original small village. When the hotel moved to a site opposite the then new South Coast Railway station in 1914, it became the ‘Mudgeeraba Exchange Hotel’ and is now known as the ‘Wallaby Hotel’. A hall was established next to the hotel, which hosted dances for patrons during the First World War.

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After initial conflict with the European squatters and peace was established it seems that the Kombumerri initially  lived alongside the selectors and worked with them on farms. Unfortunately, they were displaced  from their country by the farmers and suffered from disease before being moved onto reservations away from the district from the 1920’s. Their descendants are now re-establishing language and customs which were lost.

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White settlers arrived from many corners of the British Empire, religious refugees from Germany and even South Sea Islanders, some brought forcefully to work on nearby sugar plantations.

After the First World War, like many communities across the world, Mudgeeraba was motivated by the sacrifices of the local men and women who served, to erect a permanent monument to their memory. It was decided by a meeting of residents to raise the funds necessary to construct a memorial hall. Given the close connection between the communities of Mudgeeraba and Springbrook, the project became a joint undertaking.

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The hall was intended not merely to memorialise, but to meet the needs of the local community for a place of community recreation, entertainment and a public library. As a School of Arts, the hall was established as an association of subscriber members with title vested in five trustees, representing the community. The founding trustees were Isaac Rankin Andrews, James Lewis Lyndon, William Henry Laver, George A Greaves and William Godfrey Rudd. 

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Grazier and butcher, Isaac Andrews, kindly donated the land upon which the hall was constructed and the community began in earnest the fundraising events required to cover the costs of construction.

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And so the name ‘Mudgeeraba and Springbrook School of Arts Memorial Hall’ was chosen for the impressive country hall which resulted from these community endeavours. The hall was officially opened on March 1923.

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The hall immediately became the social hub of the community. The working lives of these pioneer families could be harsh and unforgiving. Their chief entertainments were enjoyed at the hall, where regular dances, concerts, musical events, family celebrations, fetes, picture shows, religious services and public meetings were attended by residents of the district. The public library was operated from the hall and was patronized by subscribers and run by volunteers. A ticket office was included in the original plans and open verandahs afforded cooling breezes on hot summer nights.

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The names of those served in the Great War are preserved on the Honour Board found in the hall today.

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The local Show was run from the hall with field events conducted on the land opposite before it moved to the present day Showground. Racedays were held there as well.

The dances at the hall were organized by locals who contributed their modest musical talents. The verandahs were eventually closed in to create more useful space for serving of hot tea, home made sandwiches and cakes, which were heartily enjoyed by patrons. Families would attend, with gatherings of small children included, often in their pyjamas. In the early days, most patrons arrived on foot, on horseback or in  horse drawn buggies and races home would provide stories for weeks to come. Manys the couple whose long lives together were sparked at those dances.

The population was boosted in the inter-war years by developments such as the extension of the South Coast Railway, public works such as the Mudgeeraba Springbrook Road, the extension of arable and grazing land by reclamation and tree clearing, the new banana growing settlement at Austinville via a Great Depression relief scheme, the creation of employment opportunities in dairying, the Merrimac Cheese Factory, sawmilling, shopkeeping, butchery and council government and works.

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As the population of the district grew, so the use and patronage of the hall followed suit.

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However, 16 short years from opening of the hall, the Mudgeeraba community found itself again sending its young men overseas to fight in a worldwide conflict. Local men served in every theatre  and branch of service  in the Second World War. They doubtless dreamt of the green fields and hills of home and the dances they were missing at the hall. The names of those who served are commemorated on another honour board in the hall today.  The Mudgeeraba Robina RSL Sub-Branch, which operates from the ground floor of the hall, has a collection of memorabilia from the Second World War.

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The war years saw the arrival of US troops in the build up to the Pacific campaigns  looking for local entertainment and fundraising activities to support the local boys overseas.

During the postwar years, the nearby beachside suburbs were transformed by canal developments and high rises and the influx of local and international tourists.