Mud Hut

One of the first buildings built in Bedourie, the Mud Hut was erected in the early 1880s with mud collected from Eyre Creek. The only other buildings from that time still standing are the Royal Hotel, across the road, and the original Police Station, which now stands on Ethabuka Station. In the early days Bedourie was used as a stopover for drovers pushing their cattle down to the markets in Adelaide. Cattle from all over North Queensland came through here, as the prices offered in Adelaide were often much more attractive to the wily station owners than those offered in Brisbane. It is believed that the Mud Hut may also have operated as a Cobb and Co rest-stop due to the remains of a horse yard found out back, and an old horse trough, found in the bed of the Eyre Creek. At the end of the 1990s the Mud Hut passed into the possession of Sir Sidney Kidman - the Cattle King. The Mud Hut was bought by Diamantina Shire Council in 2001 from Jean Smith, and has since been fully restored with most of the original timber replaced.