Community & Business
24 June, 2023
Family want road name restored
A request by the descendants of a pioneering family in the Malanda district to have a road renamed after the family who gifted the land to the former Eacham Council is being considered by Tablelands Regional Council.
A request by the descendants of a pioneering family in the Malanda district to have a road renamed after the family who gifted the land to the former Eacham Council is being considered by Tablelands Regional Council.
The McMahon family wants council to change Wright’s Creek Road at Lake Eacham back to its original name of McMahon Road.
The family gifted the original McMahon’s Road to the Eacham Shire back around 1909 to provide community and school access to the Lake Eacham and Gadgarra localities via the Gillies Highway.
But somehow, in the 1960s, the name became lost after the original farm was sold, and Wright’s Creek Road became the commonly recognised name.
Family spokesman and great grandson of the original settlers, Ren Pedersen OAM, said it was only fitting that the McMahon name be restored. His mother was a McMahon who married into the Pedersen family.
“These people cleared the land with their sweat and blood,” he said.
“We think that at some time in the 1960s or early 1970s, McMahon Road turned into Wright’s Creek Road because it joined it from the other end.
“Wright’s Creek Road was gradually and incorrectly infused into local dialogue but now, history and the current TRC dialogue should be corrected.
“It should be noted that the Wright family already had a tributary named in their honour.
“Wright’s Creek Road is only named after a waterway and in no way diminishes the Wright family legacy, whatever that may be.”
Matthew and Theresa McMahon first settled on virgin land around Lake Eacham in 1905 and were one of the earliest pioneers in the region.
Their sons, Jack and Marshall, had their own families at McMahon’s Road and became significant members of the community via sporting groups, local government, schools and serving in the Australian military.
Over a number of decades, the subsequent generations of the McMahon family have continued to be actively involved in music, business, hospitality and cultural events.
Council has now launched a poll asking the community what their view is about changing the name back to McMahon’s Road.
Anyone wishing to have their say can go to the council’s website and take the poll until 13 July.
