By 1886 a small settlement of new selectors had sprung up in the area six miles south of Violet Town along Harry’s Creek in Upper Boho. After inquiries by settlers the Department of Education gazetted a small three-acre area, a forfeited sawmill, part of CA 62, parish of Boho, as a school reserve. The sawmill land was originally owned by James Williams who selected the land in 1879, and later owned by Osbert Henderson.
The parents were informed if they made the building already onsite fit for use as a schoolroom, the Department would supply a teacher and a full time school would be established. The school opened on 12 Jul 1887 with Miss Jessie Blom as head teacher.
Sadly, three days later the school was destroyed by fire. An old blacksmith’s building was repaired and made ready as the new school building by the parents, and the school reopened in September that year.
The Harry’s Creek State School was used as a district social centre for church and public meetings, school picnics, concerts and dances. For many years it served the surrounding mountainside farming residents, acting as a hub for the local people. Some of the families provided up to 11 children for the school community. Three families (Henderson, Richardson and Thompson) in particular, provided a large proportion of the pupils of the school over at least two generations.
By 1902 attendance at the school had fallen and the school was closed and the building was sold in 1904.
