Springsure Hospital Museum facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Springsure Hospital Museum |
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Springsure Hospital Museum from north, 2009
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| Location | 13 Woodbine Street, Springsure, Central Highlands Region, Queensland, Australia |
| Design period | 1840s - 1860s (mid-19th century) |
| Built | 1868 - 1879 |
| Official name: Springsure Hospital Museum, Springsure Hospital | |
| Type | state heritage (built) |
| Designated | 21 October 1992 |
| Reference no. | 600025 |
| Significant period | 1860s-1870s (fabric) 1860s-1930s (historical) |
| Significant components | out building/s, hospital |
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The Springsure Hospital Museum is a special building in Springsure, Queensland, Australia. It used to be a hospital but is now a museum. It was built between 1868 and 1879. This historic site is also known as Springsure Hospital. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992 because of its important history.
Contents
The Hospital's Early Days
The Springsure Hospital was built around 1868. It was created because the people in the local community needed a hospital.
How Springsure Grew
In the 1840s, explorers like Ludwig Leichhardt and Thomas Mitchell traveled through the area. They named many places. In 1854, the area was opened for settlers. More people started to move in. By 1864, about 720 people lived in the Springsure Police District. Only 34 of them lived in the town itself. As more people arrived, it became clear that a hospital was needed.
Building the First Hospital
Local volunteers formed a committee to build and run the hospital. People who paid a small yearly fee became "governors." They elected a committee to manage everything. The hospital aimed to help everyone. Patients who could pay for their treatment did so. Those who couldn't still received the medical care they needed. The hospital officially opened in 1868.
A New Way to Design Hospitals
The Springsure Hospital was built using a new design called the "pavilion plan." This plan was first used in Paris, France, in the mid-1800s. Florence Nightingale, a famous nurse, helped make this design popular. She saw how it helped soldiers recover during the Crimean War.
The main idea of the pavilion plan was to have good air flow (ventilation) and clean conditions (sanitation). This helped patients get better faster. The Springsure Hospital is the oldest hospital in Queensland built with this plan that is still standing. It was also the first hospital built in inland Queensland.
Inside the First Hospital Building
The hospital started as a small cottage-style building. It had a main section with a ward for six beds. It also had an office, a surgery room, a dispensary (where medicines were prepared), and a store. The building was made of bricks and had a shingle roof.
To keep the air fresh, there were French doors along the north and south sides of the main ward. A verandah (a covered porch) went around three sides of the ward. Each bed was placed between two French doors. This made sure every patient had plenty of fresh air.
Thomas and Ellen Cahill were the first wardsman and matron (like a head nurse). They worked there until the mid-1870s.
Growing and Changing Over Time
By 1871, the Springsure area had 1098 people. The hospital treated 48 patients that year. The government also helped with money. In the 1870s, the hospital grew. An extra ward was added in 1879, bringing the total number of beds to seventeen.
In the 1890s, many banks faced problems. The hospital's money was stuck, and they had to borrow funds. But by 1897, they could hire their first trained nurse, Miss Alice Kemp. In 1900, a health officer was appointed. The hospital finally received the official land deeds in 1902.
Local governments became responsible for treating infectious diseases in 1884. This was because people believed bad air caused illnesses. Councils also helped with vaccinations, like during the 1919 flu outbreak. In 1920, the local council gave money to improve the hospital's isolation ward.
More Expansion and New Services
The hospital continued to expand. Separate staff living quarters were built in 1914. Health services in the area improved in the 1920s. An ambulance service started, and a maternity home opened in 1921. In 1924, the Queensland Government built a maternity ward at the Springsure Hospital. A new complex with wards and a kitchen was built next to the original brick building in 1925.
Local councils helped pay for the hospitals until 1945. During the Great Depression, the hospital almost closed. The community held a meeting and raised money to keep it open. In the late 1930s, the local council pledged money to keep the hospital running independently.
In 1938, a new hospital was built. The old brick building was then used for fun activities and dances for the nurses. In the 1970s, new staff quarters were built. In the 1980s, the original brick building was no longer needed by the hospital. The land was divided, and the 1868 building became a special reserve. The local council became its caretaker.
Springsure Hospital Museum
The old hospital building was restored in 1988. On 19 August 1989, the Springsure Hospital Museum officially opened. The museum looks like an old rural hospital. It has a collection of medical tools, photos, and old records.
The museum was closed for safety reasons in 2004–2005.
Special Exhibitions and History
For Anzac Day in 2016, the museum had an exhibition about World War I. It included letters from the war written by four brothers from Springsure: William, Charles, Henry, and John Fryer. Their parents, Charles and Rosina Fryer, had worked at the Springsure Hospital. One of the brothers, John (Jack) Fryer, returned from the war. He later died, and his university friends started a collection of Australian books in his memory. This collection grew into the Fryer Library, a large archive of Australian history and literature.
Visiting the Museum Today
As of August 2025, the museum is open to the public on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 AM to 12 PM. If you want to visit at other times, you can get a key from the Central Highlands Regional Council office on Eclipse Street.
What the Museum Looks Like
The Springsure Hospital Museum is at 13 Woodbine Street, right next to the current Springsure Hospital. It sits on high ground, a bit away from the town center. This was a common feature for hospitals in Queensland. The building is from the Victorian era and has a Georgian style. It is mostly still in its original form. It has a single-story brick building with a timber annex attached.
Main Building Features
The main brick building was built around 1868. It has two parts. The western part was the original six-bed ward, designed with the pavilion plan. The eastern part has offices and a storeroom. A verandah runs along the front, the western side, and part of the northern side.
The building is made of bricks from the local area. Its foundations are made of stone. The ground slopes down to the west, so the eastern part of the building is at ground level. The western part is raised on timber stumps.
The Old Ward Area
The main room, which was the old ward, shows how the pavilion design worked. It was made to have good air flow and cleanliness. The ward could hold six beds, placed against the walls. Each bed would have had a French door next to it. There are three French doors on both the south and north sides, each with a window above. These doors open onto the verandah. The building also has three fireplaces, which is unusual for this part of Queensland. Two fireplaces are in the ward, and one is in the old office.
The eastern part of the main building has two rooms on the south side. On the north side, there are two small rooms with an open passage between them. A modern toilet is on the northern verandah. The main building has decorative corner stones called quoins. The windows have flat arches and special keystone shapes. The steep roof of the main building has fancy scalloped timber decorations. The roof over the verandahs is less steep. The entire roof is made of corrugated iron, covering well-preserved wooden shingles.
The Timber Annex
The annex is right next to the main building on the west side. It has two rooms and a verandah along its eastern side. This timber-framed building is covered with weatherboards and has a corrugated iron roof. Its timber frame can be seen on the southern and eastern sides.
The area in front of the museum has gardens with native shrubs and trees.
Why It's a Heritage Site
The Springsure Hospital Museum was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992. This means it's a very important historical place.
Showing Queensland's History
Built around 1868, the former Springsure Hospital shows how health services developed in Queensland in the 1800s. It was started by local people and managed by volunteers. The building is important because it quickly adopted the "pavilion plan" design. This plan was new, having only opened in Paris in 1854. It became popular in Britain in the mid-1860s thanks to people like Florence Nightingale.
A Rare and Special Place
The former Springsure Hospital is a rare example of a hospital complex from the 1800s. Out of more than 90 public hospitals built in Queensland in that century, only about ten buildings are still standing. Among these, the Springsure Hospital is the only small cottage-style hospital that combined a small pavilion ward with other facilities in one main building. It was the first hospital built inland in Queensland. It is also Queensland's oldest surviving hospital designed with the pavilion plan. Many hospitals built with this plan have been changed or removed over time.
A Great Example of Hospital Design
With its verandah on three sides and French doors for cross-ventilation, the former Springsure Hospital is a great example of the pavilion plan. This design aimed to provide good air flow and cleanliness for patients. The hospital not only used the latest hospital design of its time but also adapted it for the climate of inland central Queensland.
Important to the Community
The Springsure Hospital Museum is very important to the community. It played a big role in setting up health services and providing medical training. It is valued by the people of Springsure and the surrounding area because it was the main place for public health care. It saw births, lives, and deaths. After it stopped being a hospital, it also provided fun activities. These facilities were important for caring for the sick and showed progress in the community. The former Springsure Hospital is also valued as one of the oldest buildings still standing in the district.
