No. 1391 - Koonya - Church of Christ (1917-1927)

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Koonya is a small settlement on the Tasman Peninsula, approximately 5 kilometres west of Taranna, on the Saltwater River Road. In the 1840s a site was developed here for the establishment of the Cascades convict probation station. The Cascades was renamed Koonya in 1887.

The Tasman Peninsula was the site of several Church of Christ communities who established churches or ‘meeting houses’ at Nubeena, Koonya, Highcroft, Oakwood and Impression Bay.

In 1889 a small chapel was built on land donated by George Greatbatch. This was located on Cooks Road, midway between Premaydena and Nubeena. In 1917 the building was moved by bullock team to a more central location at Koonya. A photograph of the church’s removal appears in the The Tasmanian Mail with the following caption:

“This building was erected 30 years ago on what was then the proposed route of the main-road, but the route was altered, and the church was left in an isolated position…”.

In February 1927 the chapel was destroyed in bushfires and along with it the records of the church. The church was not rebuilt.

A photo of the chapel's removal from the site on Cooks Road to Koonya. Photo: posted by the Friends of Koonya Facebook Group, 21 September 1911.


Tasmanian Mail, 6 September 1917.


Sources:

The Tasmanian Mail, 6 September 1917, page 20
The Mercury, Thursday 17 February 1927 - Page 3

Neville, C.C., 1979: Church of Christ, Tasman Peninsula Centenary Celebrations, 1878-1979. Hobart. (1979)




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