Murgon

An Aboriginal world meaning lily pond, Murgon derived its name from a pond located on Barambah Station near Moffatdale where the first European settlers arrived in the area in 1843.  The rich and fertile land was used for agriculture and dairying, which still plays a major part of the township with the South Burnett Dairy Museum just outside of town still pulling tourists to the region today. Like most of the South Burnett, logging was another prosperous industry but the town didn't start to develop until the early 1900s when large properties were divided into smaller allotments and the local population increased. A butter factory was opened in 1913 and a grain shed was built the following year, putting Murgon on the map as a prosperous little town. 

Murgon is still experiencing exciting developments with the construction of a $1.59 million cultural centre currently in the works. When completed, the Murgon Country Creative Association initiative will be a local art gallery and fossil museum, housing replicas of some of the incredibly significant archaeological finds from the region. Discovered in the 1930s, the Murgon Fossil Site is the only site in Australia that records a diverse vertebrate fauna dating from the early Tertiary Period, over 55 million years ago and approximately ten million years after the extinction of the dinosaurs.