24/06/2026
WHERE DID THE POLES COME FROM? THE MOST ASKED STICK SHED QUESTION NOW HAS AN ANSWER! With thanks to Norman Houghton the senior Historian and Jackie Zappelli at the Otways Historical Society we now know the poles in the Stick Shed came from The Otways. This quote is from Norman's research....
"I have been reading through some FCV reports at the time and came across a reference in the 1941- 1942 year that the Forrest District supplied 646 messmate poles to the Grain Elevators Board for temporary wheat stacks at Murtoa. Poles varied in length from 16 ft to 60ft. So it looks like the poles came from the east Otways rather than the west Otways."
The key words are "Grains Elevator Board" because they part funded and oversaw the building of the Stick Shed with the rest of the funding coming from the Australian Wheat Board. In short state and federal funding.
What clinched it was an entry in the 1943 annual report of Forestry Commission Victoria which states "Output of pole timbers increased substantially, and large quantities were supplied to the order of the Australian Wheat Board"
The Australian Wheat Board built the number 2 shed at Murtoa and the massive storage at Dunolly.
Every indication is the same plans/designs were used for the storage part of our second shed and the Dunolly shed.
