The remains of the P. H. Lodge & Sons general store circa 1985.
Following are two pictures, scanned from old slides, showing the front of what was once the P. H. Lodge & Sons general store in Morawa (part of which later became Ken’s Mart).
I calculate that these pictures were taken circa 1985.
This first picture shows Solomon Terrance on the left, the Morawa Hotel in the middle, and Ken’s Mart and the closed up front of what once was P. H. Lodge & Sons.
This second picture shows more of the old P. H Lodge & Sons part of the store, featuring the rock wall that was made from rock brought to town from the Koolanooka Hills by horse and cart some 17 miles to the East of Morawa.
After Percy Harris Lodge purchased the store, he improved the original smaller corrugated iron store by putting up solid rock walls made from rock brought from the Koolanooka Hills.
When P. H. Lodge & Sons ceased trading, the property was sold to Ken Ferguson. Ken made use of the drapery part of the overall structure, which was the newest part of the building, to set up Ken’s Mart.
Ken’s Mart had stopped trading at the time of these pictures.
The original town planning was for Solomon Terrace to become the main road through Morawa. This is also why the Hotel was build on Solomon Road. However, as is the way of life, when the state government surveyed the main road through Morawa they put in on the other side of the railway line. This then left the hotel and P. H. Lodge and Sons ‘on the wrong side of town’.
Even so, my father always referred to this side of town as ‘the right side’.