Eskdale, Maryborough

Eskdale is a heritage-listed detached house at 53 Pallas Street, Maryborough, Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from to 1920s. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.HistoryEskdale was constructed in about 1864 for the Mayor of Maryborough, James Dowzer. A tender notice in the Maryborough Chronicle of 22 August 1864 reads: 'Tenders are require on or before the 24th instant for the Brick and Stone Work of a Twelve-roomed House - Plans and specifications to be seen at Messrs Dowzer & Purser's.' No architect is specified and it is likely that Dowzer designed the house himself.The original township of Maryborough was situated, not in its current place, but on the north of the Mary River, after wharves were established in 1847-8 providing transport for wool from sheep stations on the Burnett River. In 1850 Surveyor, Hugh Roland Labatt arrived in Maryborough with instructions to "examine the River Mary...to suggest...the best site or sites for the laying out of the town, having regard to the convenience of shipping on one hand and internal communication on the other...also...point out the spots desirable as reserves for public building, church, quay and for places for public recreation." The site recommended by Labatt was not where settlement was established but further east and from the early 1850s this is where the growing town developed.