About Peachester

About Peachester

Peachester  

is  

an  

elevated  

rural  

village  

on  

the  

eastern  

slopes

of   

the   

Conondale   

Range,   

25   

km   

west   

of   

Caloundra.   

The

Stanley  

River  

has  

a  

U-shaped  

course  

through  

Peachester,

flowing  

east  

and  

then  

west  

until  

emptying  

into  

Lake  

Somerset.

It  

is  

thought  

that  

Peachester  

was  

named  

after  

the  

peach  

trees

found  

growing  

beside  

a  

crossing  

on  

the  

Stanley  

River.  

The

name  

was  

given  

when  

a  

town  

was  

surveyed  

at  

the  

crossing  

in

1888.

A  

year  

after  

the  

town  

survey  

a  

public  

hall  

was  

built,  

and  

in

1892  

the  

Peachester  

School  

started  

in  

the  

hall.  

There  

was

ample  

unfelled  

timber  

to  

supply  

Grigor's  

sawmill  

(1899)  

and  

a

case  

factory  

for  

fruit  

growers  

in  

the  

1920s  

and  

the  

post  

World

War  

II  

years.  

Dairying,  

however,  

was  

the  

main  

farm  

industry,

and  

three-quarters  

of  

the  

50  

or  

more  

farms  

listed  

in  

the  

post

office  

directory  

in  

1949  

were  

dairy.  

Most  

of  

the  

others  

were

fruit growers.

Peachester  

Public  

Dip  

is  

a  

concrete  

formed  

cattle  

dip  

framed

with  

slab  

posts  

and  

a  

sawn  

timber  

roof  

clad  

in  

corrugated  

iron

sheeting.  

It  

dates  

from  

1915  

when  

it  

replaced  

an  

earlier  

timber

dip  

built  

by  

Landsborough  

Shire  

Council  

on  

the  

site,  

which

had   

been   

reserved   

as   

a   

Stock   

Dip   

Reserve   

in   

November

1910.  

These  

dips  

were  

erected  

in  

response  

to  

the  

spread  

of

cattle   

tick   

into   

Queensland   

which   

threatened   

the   

cattle

industry   

throughout   

the   

State   

and   

dairying   

in   

south-east

Queensland.

Between  

the  

1930s  

and  

1950s  

Peachester  

was  

well-known  

as

the   

home   

of   

Inigo   

Jones,   

the   

famous   

long-range   

weather

forecaster.  

Jones'  

family  

settled  

just  

north  

of  

Peachester  

in

1892,   

at   

Crohamhurst,   

and   

Jones   

opened   

his   

weather

observatory in 1935. He worked there until his death in 1954.

During  

the  

1970's  

a  

number  

of  

dairy  

farms  

were  

sold  

up  

and  

in

many  

cases  

turned  

over  

to  

rural/residential  

living.  

Peachester

has  

a  

general  

store,  

a  

Uniting  

Church  

(the  

Church  

of  

England

was  

lost  

in  

a  

cyclone  

in  

1963),  

two  

recreation  

reserves,  

a

public  

hall  

and  

a  

primary  

school.  

Its  

cemetery  

is  

north  

of  

the

Stanley River, in Crohamhurst.