Cake Shop, Ravenswood, shop at Macrossan Street, Ravenswood, Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia
The Cake Shop is a single-storey shop on the western side of Macrossan Street, near the School of Arts in Ravenswood. It was built in the 1880s and is also known as Jun Yeung Wong & Company and The Pie Shop. Its store front was reconstructed in 1991 reusing original materials where possible, and the rear of the shop and an attached residence were demolished in 1993.
The shop is thought to have been built in the 1880s, possibly first used by Jun Yeung Wong and Company as a store and garden-produce outlet. In 1904 Daniel Patience acquired it and Mrs Watson ran it as a cordial shop until 1918, when it passed to the Kluver family as refreshment rooms. Ethel Wadsworth bought it in 1924 and ran it until 1947; two cyclones badly damaged it in 1989, and a 1991 heritage grant funded repairs and reconstruction of the storefront.
The shop's name reflects its enduring role as a place to buy cakes and sweets in Ravenswood's center. The simple timber structure with its large front windows served for many years as a familiar stop where locals and miners gathered to purchase refreshments.
The shop stands on the western side of Macrossan Street, close to the School of Arts, not on a corner. Visitors reach it on foot along the town's irregular gold-era streets. The 1993 demolition removed the rear of the shop and an attached residence, so the structure seen today is the repaired front section, rebuilt in 1991 with original materials where possible.
The name Jun Yeung Wong and Company stayed faintly visible on the shopfront until the 1960s, though it never appears in post office directories. An early Ravenswood resident recalled the store serving the Chinese community as a general store, produce outlet and gold exchange during the rush years.
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