HISTORY OF THE HEWITT BUILDING. 33 Main Street.

Proserpine’s Main Street today bears little resemblance to what it looked like in the early to mid 1900s. Most of the original buildings have long gone, however, the facades of several of these early establishments can still be seen as one drives down the main street. The Hewitt Building is one of these reminders of the past.

Throughout its existence, it was the location of a variety of businesses, the first being the premises of Alfred Harvey Hewitt who operated a saddlery/harness business.  It was a two-storey building and he moved into it in December 1903. In about 1910, the Hewitts left the area for Sarina.

J A Behrens, who was also a photographer, ran refreshment rooms called The New York Café from this building. In August 1913, he sold to Mrs. William (Mary Ann) Compton (nee Jenkins) who lived with her family in the rooms above the shop. There were steps at the back and then they had to walk across the roof to access the rooms.

In 1914, after Alfred Hewitt died, aged only 37 years, his widow, Margaret and young family returned to Proserpine where she operated a tearoom from the shop. In 1918, she married Mr John James O’Hara. They left the area for a short time, returning in 1921 and bought a farm. For a short time in the 1920s, these rooms were taken over by single ladies, the Clifford sisters.

May 1925 saw a change of business when Mr J M Harkness, Chemist, took over the shop which had been thoroughly renovated. He had arrived in the area in 1924 originally operating his business in Mrs Beame’s premises next to Kelly’s Hotel (now the Grand Central).  Following the death of Mr Harkness, Philip Sydney Reid acquired the pharmacy in 1928.  

Mrs. O’Hara, wife of the late Mr. Hewitt, still owned the building and decided to rebuild, this time to a single-storey building. Mr. Bob Shaw was the builder. The “Proserpine Guardian” (June 17, 1939) reported, “With its demolishment will go an old landmark of the town” … “probably one of the oldest buildings”.  Timber from the old Hewitt building was transported to Dent Island where it was used to build a home for Jack and Margaret O’Hara when they retired from mainland farming in 1941.

Christopher John Monkhouse assumed control of Reid’s Pharmacy in April, 1948 and the Hewitt Building remained the location for a pharmacy for almost another fifty years. When C J Monkhouse died suddenly in January 1960, the freehold was passed to Mrs Monkhouse. W N Gillies managed the business until Mr. Campbell Hill took the reins in 1961.  He sold to Mr. Graham Chandler on October 1, 1962. Graham carried on the business on his own until Paul and Gloria Gluske became partners c1993.  The Chandlers eventually moved away from Proserpine and the business was bought by Robert and Megan McKay in 1996. They closed this shop in 1997 taking the stock a few doors up to an existing chemist shop, Proserpine Pharmacy. So ended the Hewitt Building’s association with chemists.

Since then, a diverse range of businesses has operated from the Hewitt Building. A music shop called In the Hearing of Audioworx relocated from 140 Main Street. It was owned by Don Hope from 1997 to 1999. After this closed, Harvey World Travel shifted to the building until October 2009.  Around May 2010, Anita and Steve opened their business, Tropical Beach Hut. They were followed by an acupuncturist. From about 2016, Peak Body Mechanics, a complementary health and wellness clinic, began operating until eventually closing and putting the business up for sale in 2022.

In 2024, a new owner/tenant started a home brew shop, cleverly named Home Brewitt – a nod to the original owners of the building.

Stay tuned for more stories about the history of some of Proserpine’s early establishments.  

Story and photo courtesy Proserpine Historical Museum

1. Hewitt building today
2. Hewitt building in 1999