Peeramon .. Another historical town on your Tableland adventure.
The land around the Village of Peeramon was once surrounded by dense rainforest; the town became the main supply point for prime log timber built on the Tolga to Millaa Millaa railway siding which was completed in 1910.
An estimated 90 bullock teams a week hauled massive logs of Kauri Pine, White Beech, and Black Bean into Peeramon, the railway ramp became a very busy place, during the wet weather the area would become impassable for wagons, this led to a prominent timber buyer Mr Arthur Belson, building a wooded tramline from Peeramon to Russell Road a distance of around 6 miles, logs were loaded onto trolleys and were then pulled by horse teams into Peeramon. The township was a hive of activity rivaling both Malanda and Yungaburra as a business center, with a school, blacksmith, butcher, church, recreation and dance hall, billiards saloon, tennis courts and the Peeramon Hotel. In 1935 regular patrons along with some of their mates were relaxing with a few beers in the Peeramon hotel when a challenge to push a friend in a wheelbarrow from Topaz school to Peeramon was accepted; the entry fee was $5 quid, (quid is Australian slang for Dollars) the race was run and ‘The Push’ has become an annual event at Peeramon.
Today most of the buildings have vanished, the oldest Hotel on the Atherton Tableland the Peeramon Hotel is still standing on the top of the hill, it was badly damaged in Cyclone Larry in 2006, and has been repaired and renovated, the original front section of the hotel, the front bar, dining room, and the antique telephone collection appear to be the only survivors of the cyclone, the old fridge mounted taps are still in use. Built with local timber in the tongue and groove building method which locks the timber into each other for strength undoubtedly helped the hotel withstand the winds of the Category 4 cyclone. Peeramon was surveyed in 1907.
Peeramon is 24 minutes drive from Atherton (23.4 Klms) and 12 minutes’ from Yungaburra and Malanda (10klms -7klms)