Dawson’s Store

Dawson’s Store, later Maude’s, Outback Country Kitchen and finally the Ridge Café was a building that stood in Morilla Street, on the intersection of Opal Street, and opposite the Digger’s Rest Hotel.

In 1961, Dawson's Store was combined with the post office. Artie Dawson Jr. had four trunk line telephone circuits by 1964. In 1967, there were 40 subscribers to continuous telephone service. In 1971, there were 84 subscribers. Operator service was continued in the new post office, 1975, but was finally replaced with the automatic system in the early 1980s in the building as we know it in 2005.

Many locals will remember the building as Maude’s Takeaway. Maude’s opened in 1984 and was sold around 1998.

The Ridge Café building unfortunately burned to the ground on 21 February 2003, and remained a vacant block for many years before becoming the site of the Best Employment agency.

Article: Edited by Russell Gawthorpe. LRHS research compiled by Len Cram and Barbara Moritz. Sources: Lightning Flash Newspaper, 2 February 1978, 4 September 1980, 25 December 1980.