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On 24th February 2005, Bundaberg City Council officially named "STEHBENS PARK" in honour of Claus Johann (John) Stehbens who first selected and successfully farmed 80 acres of the vineforest scrub at Bundaberg in 1871. The farm site is located on the southern side of Kepnock Road opposite Kepnock High School, Bundaberg, today. The area is now a residential estate. The gazetted park contains the site of the original Stehbens homesite. In fact, the Stehbens family was the first of the Germanic population to settle in Bundaberg. Significant numbers of immigrants from Denmark, Schleswig-Holstein, Poland and Germany migrated to the Wide Bay-Burnett area of Queensland in the period 1860-1890. Part of the reason for the success of John Stehbens' pioneering venture was the fact that with the help of his father, Detlef, and his brother, Wilhelm, John dug a deep well which provided excellent water. Detlef hand-made bricks at the springs and swamp located 800 metres to the north of the property, and then bricklined the well. This pioneer well was key to the exploration of the groundwater resources of the Lower Burnett. The first well; the first bricks; one of the first agricultural selections "on the Burnett"; and the first of the German pioneers of the district! Stehbens Park is not only a memorial to the ancestors of the Australian STEHBENS & LISTER & ANDRESEN & STRAND Families but a significant element of the history of Bundaberg and the Burnett. The park has a playground for small children, cricket field, shelter shed. Poinciana and eucalypt trees have been planted. [Penny Haylock submitted the photo of the sign. Thanks Penny.]
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