[1] The ruins of the Sugar Refinery on Graham's Creek at Yengarie are the remains of an important industrial complex, which began operations for the firm of Tooth and Cran in the 1860s.

He owned several pastoral properties in Queensland and in 1857 employed Robert Cran, first on Jondaryan Station and then as a supervisor at Pikedale.

White set up a steam-powered abattoir and boiling-down works on the Yengarie land in 1863 but was financially ruined when pleuropneumonia killed most of his cattle the following year.

[1] Tooth was interested in the preservation of beef before refrigeration was available, and the boiling-down works was adapted with modern equipment as a meat extract plant, using Leibig's process.

By 1867 Yengarie had become a major business enterprise with bone crushing, wool washing and hide tanning divisions surrounded by what had become a small settlement.

New and larger boilers were installed and charcoal retorts added to utilise bone waste for refining sugar.

The refinery became a very large undertaking comprising a factory, store, laboratory, distillery, brickworks, limekilns and wharves with a small township developing to accommodate workers and their families.

Tooth and Cran also had their own steamer, the Nowra, which took sugar and rum to Maryborough for shipment south.

In 1880 Cran spent some time in Europe arranging for machinery for a new refinery he planned to build in Bundaberg.

This was opened in 1883 as Millaquin and Cran provided land at Yengarie for a short branch line and siding to connect the complex to the state railway.

In 1889 Cran and Company opened a crushing mill at Doolbi to provide juice to Yengarie, thereby supporting the development of cane growing in the Isis area.

Central mills servicing independent white farmers replaced the big plantations run by indentured labour, licenses to recruit Melanesian workers having ceased after December 1890.

A number of plantations and mills closed and, by 1892, it was reported that much of the land along the Mary River was no longer under cultivation, or was growing crops other than sugar.

The building contains a large tank and several mature fig trees, the roots of which have penetrated the walls and foundations.

[1] Concrete mounts for equipment are visible on the north eastern side of the building and although much of the site is overgrown with vegetation, it is believed that other evidence of use remains, including pits and a shaft leading down to a water channel.

[1] Yengarie Sugar Refinery ruins was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria.

[1] The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history.