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Welcome
To burleigh lodge history
In the 1920s Burleigh Township (now known as West Burleigh) was a thriving business area founded on the timber and dairying industries which surrounded it. there were a number of sawmillers, haulage contractors, blacksmiths, the Commercial Bank, carriers and retailers such as a general store, bakers, butchers, saddlery, hardware and a hotel. There was also a railway station which was situated where the pacific highway crosses Tallebudgera Creek Rd.
At the time there was no Masonic Lodge in the Burleigh area, but among the residents of the town and the business men in the area were a number of freemasons who were members of lodges from as far as Caboolture and Coolangatta. These men agreed that there was a need for a lodge and took steps to have it formed. Interestingly, only three of the founder members lived in Burleigh Heads and after the lodge was established, only eleven of the first seventy members resided there, the majority living in West Burleigh, Tallebudgera and Currumbin.
Many of the West Burleigh buildings remain today. Durvilles Hotel, after a fire, is now offices and residences. The general store is now a restaurant, the Commercial Bank (the financier of the lodge) is a residence, and Fletcher's Saddlery and Hardware Store is occupied by an Estate Agent. |
