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Brushgrove is situated at the southern end of Woodford Island.
Woodford Island covers 37 square kilometres, is the largest inland
island in the southern hemisphere, and the largest inland island in
the world with its own mountain range.
Brushgrove is a just one kilometre off the
highway and is a great place for travellers to stop for a quality
country meal or an overnight stay at the friendly local
hotel.
If you want a unique
holiday of Clarence River exploring, the only
houseboat operator in
the Clarence Valley is located at Brushgrove.
There is a
caravan park
at Cowper just south of Brushgrove and is popular with
fishing
enthusiasts because of its riverside location.
The
following historical text was given by the
Brushgrove Hotel:
Woodford Island was one
of the first places inhabited by Europeans on the Far North Coast.
Originally settled for the abundance of red cedar on the island,
Brushgrove was once a major trading hub for timber, sugar and other
agricultural goods due to its location on the Clarence River.
By the turn of the
nineteenth century the village supported eight shops, three
blacksmiths, a saddler, livery stable, two restaurants, two hotels,
a hospital, two doctors, auctioneers, carriers and a post/telegraph
office, police station and three churches.
In the early 1900s
Brushgrove thrived with businesses such as a bakery, butcher shop,
bank and establishment of a school. A two-storey department storey
(Henderson's) was built close to a wharf, and was the largest
business in the village.
With the establishment
of roads, trucks and other vehicles became the "new" way of
transporting goods and the river trade declined, with the result
that most of the businesses in the village closed.
Access to and from the
island was by rowing boat from Brushgrove to Cowper. The rowing boat
left from Kearns Hotel across to Cowper and was later replaced by a
ferry from the slip near the Brushgrove Hotel across the south arm.
In 1958 land was
acquired from the Brushgrove Hotel to allow the building of the
Wingfield Bridge allowing vehicle transport to and from the island.
Today the village is served by only one hotel, that being the
Brushgrove Hotel.
The Brushgrove Hotel
was built in 1868 as a single storey building and is situated on the
banks of the Clarence River. Originally the hotel contained a sample
room and a billiard room at the back of the hotel. The sample room
is no longer but the billiard room was moved across the road to
provide a residence for the then licensee, William Russell and still
exists as a private residence today.
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