LOCAL HISTORY
The Mole Creek of today is a pretty little town with an economy mainly revolving around forestry and timber, agriculture and tourism. The town takes its name from the local creek’s habit of disappearing underground and reappearing after some distance.
A short history
A town of only about 250 residents, Mole Creek nonetheless boasts excellent infrastructure and community facilities. Young families have the benefit of their own local school and Mole Creek Football Club calls the picturesque recreation grounds’ home. The town also has a community hall, swimming pool, church, post office, supermarket, service station, motor repair workshop and a honey factory employing a number of local people. An engineering works servicing the nearby Unimin quarry, as well as local farmers and other town residents.
Mole Creek Hotel dates back to the early 1900s, although, curiously, it was not used for that purpose until 1953. Today, with its Tassie Tiger Bar celebrating the strong local connection with the thylacine, the hotel forms a hub for the local community to celebrate everything from rock concerts to wakes.
IN THE BEGINNING
The connection of Aboriginal people with the Mole Creek area is thought to date back more than 10,000 years, and the Pallittorre band of the North tribe was based around Mole Creek and Meander. To these early inhabitants, the Great Western Tiers were known as Kooparoona Niara, or Mountains of the Spirits, and were a culturally-significant meeting place for three Aboriginal nations. Tulampanga, or Alum Cliffs, was of particular social and spiritual significance to Aboriginals because of the ochre found there. Many tribes traveled to Tulampanga to obtain this highly-prized material, making the area a place of sacred celebration.
European Settlement
European squatters first crossed the Meander River in the mid-1820s. The area was covered with tall forest and large swathes of marsh and plain around the Chudleigh/Dairy Plains area, the latter having been maintained by Aborigines. These marsh areas were the first in the region to be offered as land grants, with about 20 parcels being allocated during the mid-to-late-1820s.
Inevitably, a period of undeclared war followed between the Europeans and Aborigines. Many settler huts were burned, a settler was killed near Chudleigh, and there was widespread killing of Aborigines, particularly by stockmen.
In 1828, there was a major step forward in opening up the north and west, with the Van Diemen’s Land Company completing construction of the Great Western Road, linking Westbury with Burnie and passing through Mole Creek.
Between 1830 and 1860, European settlers beat the Aborigines and took up all the relatively open country. They began developing large estates, using convict labour for clearing, fencing, drainage and water supply.
The Beginnings of a Town
The town of Mole Creek began to develop between 1860 and 1890. Roads and bridges, cemeteries, churches, chapels and schools opened; Caveside School in 1877 and Mole Creek School in 1878. The latter began in a local chapel, moving to a schoolhouse in 1890. By the same year, land as far as the upper Mersey Valley had been taken.
Early Tourism –
and Mountain Men
In the early 1890s, railway was extended to Mole Creek’s ‘tourist resort’ and the town itself began to grow around the station and main road. Many of the attractions which are drawcards today – the caves; Alum Cliffs; and the lakes on the plateau, including Lake Mackenzie and Devil’s Gullet – attracted visitors in the early days.
Around the same time, commercial hunting started. Hardy Mole Creek men would spend their winters in the mountains, living in stark conditions in mountain huts and leaving their wives and families to run their farms. Encouraged by a government bounty, the Tasmanian Tiger became a victim of hunting and is commonly believed to have been hunted to extinction, although some dispute that to this day.
Decline and rebirth
In the mid-1920s, the town grew and facilities such as the hotel were built. More families arrived, small farms were selected and, at the same time, some of the larger properties such as Wesley Dale were broken up. The Depression of the 1930s forced many people from the area to find work interstate and overseas. Nevertheless, the appeal of beautiful Mole Creek saw the region later regain its stature. To this day, Mole Creek remains a place loved by inhabitants and visitors alike.