Raspberry Creek Homestead
Raspberry Creek Homestead is a heritage-listed former home and now a museum in Byfield, Queensland, Australia. It is located at 2312 Byfield Road, Byfield, in the Shire of Livingstone.
The building was constructed in the 1860s by James Hutton and his wife Mary (née Cameron). It began as a simple slab hut and was later extended as the family grew. James Hutton and Mary Cameron were early pioneers who moved from New South Wales to Central Queensland in 1863, bringing cattle and their possessions.
Initially the Raspberry Creek Run was held by a partnership between James Ross and James Hutton. By 1868 the Huttons owned the property alone and expanded their holdings in the Shoalwater area. The family used boats to bring weatherboards and other materials for extensions. After Mary’s death in 1896, James returned to Raspberry Creek and ran the station with his eldest son William until 1898. William and his wife Rose lived there until 1911. The property changed hands several times, being bought by William Naughton in 1914 and later sold to others, including Tom Creed in 1939.
In 1965 Raspberry Creek became part of the Shoalwater Bay Military Training Area. It was used occasionally as a base camp but not kept in permanent use. In 1988, with help from a Bicentennial grant, the homestead was moved to the grounds of the Byfield Historical Society and today operates as a museum and library managed by the Byfield & District Historical Society Inc.
Architecturally, the homestead originally consisted of three attached sections. Since being moved, the slab section has been detached, and the remaining two extensions are timber-framed with weatherboard cladding. The larger section has a verandah on three sides and a corrugated iron roof, while the smaller section attaches to the northeast. A timber ramp connects the sections.
Inside the building are items from the Byfield Historical Society’s collection, including a library in one room. Raspberry Creek Homestead was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992 for its example of early pioneer construction, its evolving vernacular architecture, its social value to the community, and its association with the Hutton family as early Central Queensland settlers.
Today it remains an important link to the area’s history and is preserved as a museum.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 06:51 (CET).