Mount Perry Masonic Lodge

Mount Perry Masonic Lodge is a heritage-listed masonic temple at Isabella Street, Mount Perry, North Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1904. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.HistoryThe Masonic Hall at Mt Perry is a simple vernacular structure with an ornate classically inspired facade and was constructed around 1904 when Mt Perry was important as a copper mining town.Freemasonry spread from New South Wales into Queensland in individual lodges. The first Freemason's lodge in Queensland was established in 1859, shortly before Separation from New South Wales. New lodges were formed as settlement spread.The township of Mount Perry, about 100 kilometres west of Bundaberg, was established following the discovery of copper in the vicinity in 1869. The population of the township quickly grew and 20 hotels sprang up in Mount Perry in the early 1870s, reflecting the high proportion of men without families on the field. However, the copper mine ceased operations in October 1877 and was sold by liquidators in January 1878 on the expectation that it would not be re-opened until the railway was completed. This occurred in 1884, linking Mount Perry with Bundaberg. Mount Perry became the railhead for the Upper Burnett and a major centre; now having nine hotels including 6 newly built ones, a courthouse, hospital and a School of Arts. However, after a period of growth the town declined, until the mine closed in 1891 due to a fall in the price of copper. Matters in Mount Perry soon improved as the London-based Queensland Copper Company bought the mine in 1898, sparking a revival in the town, and by 1904 the population in the field was 2000.