Friend Park, Barney Point, Heritage park in Barney Point, Australia.
Friend Park is a heritage-listed park on a low promontory at the southern end of Barney Point Beach, overlooking Port Curtis harbour. The site, formerly the Port Curtis Government Residence and Domain, contains open lawns, walking paths, and memorial structures.
The site served as the Port Curtis Government Residence from 1854 to 1856 under Captain Maurice Charles O'Connell's administration. It was later transformed into a public park after the government operations relocated elsewhere.
The park's name recalls the Friend family, early settlers of Barney Point, not a 1929 donor. The site was the Port Curtis Government Residence and Domain, laid out in 1854 and completed by 1856 for Captain Maurice Charles O'Connell, grandson of Governor William Bligh. O'Connell was appointed Government Resident, Police Magistrate and Commissioner of Crown Lands for Port Curtis and Leichhardt in January 1854.
Friend Park lies at the end of Friend Street in Barney Point, on the low ground behind Barney Point Beach and beside Waapentake Creek. The site is open ground reached on foot from the street and the beach; no buildings of the 1854–56 government residence remain, so the reserve is read from its layout, its position between the inlets and the harbour views.
The park's name does not come from a donor: Barney Point honours Lieutenant-Colonel George Barney, who landed the first official party at Port Curtis on 25 January 1847 and, after the settlement was abandoned, judged the district a promising site for future settlement.
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