Cloncurry, Queensland

Cloncurry is situated in the north-west of Queensland, 770 kilometres west of the city of Townsville via the Flinders Highway. The town lies adjacent to the Cloncurry River.

Post Office Hotel

Cattle grazing is the significant industry in the region, and a large sale yards is located in the town.

Kalkatunga (also known as Kalkadoon, Kalkadunga, Kalkatungu) is an Australian Aboriginal language. The Kalkatunga language region is North-West Queensland including the local government areas of the City of Mount Isa.[9]

The first Europeans to traverse these tribal lands of peoples such as the Maithakari and the Wanamara, were Burke and Wills on their epic, and ultimately fatal, transcontinental expedition. The Cloncurry River was named by Burke after Lady Elizabeth Cloncurry, his cousin, with the town eventually taking its name from the river.

Ernest Henry discovered copper in the area in 1867,[10] and the town sprang up to service the Great Australia Mine to the south. Roger Sheaffe established the first pastoral run in the Cloncurry district - "Fort Constantine".[11] Gold was discovered at Top Camp.[12] The town was surveyed in 1876.[13] Cloncurry was proclaimed a town in 1884.

Front page of the Cloncurry Advocate Saturday 17 January 1931

The Cloncurry Advocate was a newspaper published in Cloncurry between 1889 and 1953.[14]

Queensland's Northern Line railway reached Cloncurry in December 1907[13] and was officially opened the next year.

St Joseph's School opened on 29 October 1909.[15]

In 1914 a fire broke out in the town resulting in the destruction of the Post Office, the hotel, eleven shops, two store-rooms and a cottage. The telegraph office was saved by employees who kept the office damp and protected with wet blankets. One man died in the blaze which cost an estimated £15,000.[16]

The discovery of uranium at Mary Kathleen brought wealth to the community in the 1950s.[13] Until the development of Mount Isa in the 1960s, Cloncurry was the administrative centre of the region.[13]

The first-ever flight of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia took place from Cloncurry on 15 May 1928, using a de Havilland DH.50 aircraft hired from the then small airline, Qantas. A Royal Flying Doctor Service museum is situated in the town.

The population in Cloncurry decreased from 3,898 in 1996 to 2,900 in 2002.[5] It declined further to 2,719 by 2016.

The Cloncurry Bob McDonald Library[17] opened in 2012.[18]

Cloncurry has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

• Via Sheaffe Street: Mount Elliott Company Metallurgical Plant and Mill[19]
• 42-48 Daintree Street: Cloncurry Courthouse[20]
• 47 Scarr Street: Cloncurry Post Office[21]

Cloncurry was widely regarded as holding the record for the highest temperature recorded in Australia at 53.1 °C (127.5 °F) on 16 January 1889. Recent investigations have revealed that this temperature was measured in an improvised screen made from a beer crate and that it equated to 47–49 °C under standard conditions.[22] The highest temperature ever recorded at Cloncurry's current weather station is 46.9 °C (116.4 °F),[23] well short of the now widely disputed 1889 temperature of 53.1 °C. The average annual rainfall is 584.5 mm (23.01 in), almost all of which falls In the months of December to March

Because of the area's extreme solar conditions, Cloncurry was expected to become Australia's first solar-powered town.[24] However the planned 10MW Thermal solar plant was scrapped due to light pollution concerns[25] and a 2.128MW flat panel photovoltaic solar farm was to be built in its place. However, the Queensland Government withdrew financial support for the solar farm in May 2012.[26]

Climate data for Cloncurry Airport (1978-2016)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	46.3 (115.3)	44.9 (112.8)	42.5 (108.5)	39.9 (103.8)	38.7 (101.7)	34.9 (94.8)	34.8 (94.6)	37.1 (98.8)	41.3 (106.3)	43.5 (110.3)	45.1 (113.2)	46.9 (116.4)	46.9 (116.4)
Average high °C (°F)	36.6 (97.9)	36.4 (97.5)	35.8 (96.4)	33.7 (92.7)	29.4 (84.9)	26.2 (79.2)	26.2 (79.2)	28.8 (83.8)	33.1 (91.6)	36.4 (97.5)	38.0 (100.4)	38.5 (101.3)	33.3 (91.9)
Daily mean °C (°F)	30.7 (87.3)	30.4 (86.7)	29.2 (84.6)	26.9 (80.4)	22.5 (72.5)	18.9 (66.0)	18.4 (65.1)	20.5 (68.9)	24.8 (76.6)	28.4 (83.1)	30.7 (87.3)	31.7 (89.1)	26.1 (79.0)
Average low °C (°F)	24.7 (76.5)	24.3 (75.7)	22.8 (73.0)	20.1 (68.2)	15.5 (59.9)	11.6 (52.9)	10.6 (51.1)	12.2 (54.0)	16.5 (61.7)	20.4 (68.7)	23.3 (73.9)	24.8 (76.6)	18.9 (66.0)
Record low °C (°F)	17.3 (63.1)	15.3 (59.5)	14.8 (58.6)	8.9 (48.0)	4.8 (40.6)	2.0 (35.6)	1.8 (35.2)	3.3 (37.9)	4.2 (39.6)	9.0 (48.2)	12.3 (54.1)	16.7 (62.1)	1.8 (35.2)
Average rainfall mm (inches)	171.8 (6.76)	97.9 (3.85)	74.1 (2.92)	18.5 (0.73)	7.9 (0.31)	7.9 (0.31)	3.8 (0.15)	3.6 (0.14)	6.8 (0.27)	18.0 (0.71)	33.8 (1.33)	81.5 (3.21)	509.8 (20.07)
Average rainy days (≥ 1mm)	8.5	6.8	4.0	1.6	0.9	0.7	0.5	0.4	1.2	1.8	3.6	5.8	35.8
Average afternoon relative humidity (%)	39	40	30	27	25	27	24	20	19	16	22	27	26
Mean monthly sunshine hours	273	216	251	294	301	294	304	322	309	322	309	304	3,499
Source: Bureau of Meteorology,[27] Climatebase[28] (sunshine hours)

Notable residents

• Writer Alexis Wright grew up in Cloncurry.[29]
• Association Footballer Kasey Wehrman was born in Cloncurry (16 August 1977). He went on to play domestically and in Scandinavia. His achievements include winning a NSL Championship in 1996–1997 with the Brisbane Strikers and being capped several times with the Australian National Team.
• Politician Bob Katter was born in Cloncurry in 1945.[30]
• Athlete Robert Crowther was born in Cloncurry (2 August 1987).[31] He went on to win the 2006 World Junior Championships in Beijing, China with a jump of 8.00m,[31] the 2007 World Uni Games in Bangkok with a jump of 8.02m, and was the 2008 Australian long jump champion at the 2008 Australian Athletics Championships held in Brisbane. He represented Australia at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, South Korea.[31] He missed out on 2 Olympics due to injury.

Facilities

Cloncurry has a public library, gallery, public swimming pool, showground, racecourse, Flying Doctor museum and a mineral display in the old post office.[32]

The Cloncurry Shire Council operates a public library in Cloncurry at Scarr Street.[33]

The Cloncurry branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association has its rooms at Charlotte Scott House in Scarr Street.[34] Charlotte Scott was a dedicated member of the Cloncurry QCWA who died in 1992 having spent most of her life in Cloncurry. She was well known for her dancing, especially the Charleston.[35]

Education

Cloncurry State School (opened on 19 March 1884)[36] is a government co-educational Prep to Year 12 School at Daintree St., Cloncurry.[37] In 2015 the School had 281 students enrolled with a teaching staff of 28 FTE (Full-time equivalent) and 15 FTE (Full-time equivalent) non teaching staff. The general population in the community is highly transient with approximately 40% turnover in student enrolment in 2015. Approximately 60% of student enrolment identify as Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander.[38]

Transport

Cloncurry has linkages to other destinations via major coach operators such as Greyhound and Bus Queensland. A weekday service to Mount Isa is operated by Cloncurry Coaches as well as local charter services within the area for mining, school, sporting bodies and special events.

• See Cloncurry Airport

Preceding station	Queensland Rail			Following station
Long distance rail services
Julia Creek towards Townsville		The Inlander		Duchess towards Mount Isa

Military history

During World War II, Cloncurry was the location of RAAF No.23 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot (IAFD), completed in 1942 and closed on 14 August 1944. Usually consisting of 4 tanks, 31 fuel depots were built across Australia for the storage and supply of aircraft fuel for the RAAF and the US Army Air Forces at a total cost of £900,000 ($1,800,000).[39]

See also

References

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Cloncurry". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
2. Bureau of Meteorology Archived 18 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine - Retrieved 27 January 2008
3. "Cloncurry – town (entry 7469)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
4. "Cloncurry – locality (entry 44671)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
5. Community Research Report - Cloncurry (QLD) Introduction Archived 25 December 2004 at the Wayback Machine (20 September 2002)
6. Moore, Blythe; Cillekens, Emma (20 February 2014). "Let's get this 2017 party started". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 23 March 2014. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
7. "The Curry charm wins Friendliest Town award". www.keepqueenslandbeautiful.org.au. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
8. Barry, Derek (7 December 2018). "Cloncurry named Queensland’s friendliest town". North Queensland Register. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
9. This Wikipedia article incorporates CC-BY-4.0 licensed text from: "Kalkatunga". Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages map. State Library of Queensland. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
10. "Welcome to Cloncurry Shire Council". Archived from the original on 12 February 2014. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
11. Sheaffe, Stephen W. "Roger Sheaffe - a Pioneer" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
12. "Gold, Mount Isa Cloncurry region". The Alluvial Gold Report Qld. Archived from the original on 24 February 2014. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
13. Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland) (2002). Heritage Trails of the Queensland Outback. State of Queensland. pp. 85–86. ISBN 0-7345-1040-3.
14. "Cloncurry Advocate". National Libraries Australia. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
15. Queensland Family History Society (2010), Queensland schools past and present (Version 1.01 ed.), Queensland Family History Society, ISBN 978-1-921171-26-0
16. "Big blaze at Cloncurry". The Queenslander. Brisbane, Queensland: National Library of Australia. 27 June 1914. p. 39. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
17. "Bob McDonald Library - Cloncurry Shire Council". Cloncurry Shire Council. Archived from the original on 30 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
18. "Queensland Public Libraries Statistical Bulletin 2016-2017" (PDF). Public Libraries Connect. State Library of Queensland. November 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
19. "Mount Elliott Company Metallurgical Plant and Mill (entry 602256)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
20. "Cloncurry Court House (entry 600415)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
21. "Cloncurry Post Office (entry 600416)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
22. "Queensland to bake on Christmas Day". AM. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 24 December 2003. Archived from the original on 4 November 2009. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
23. "Climate statistics for Australian locations - CLONCURRY AIRPORT". Bureau of Meteorology. Archived from the original on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
24. "Town so hot it’s first on the solar block" Archived 6 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Sydney Morning Herald (5 November 2007)
25. "Solar power scheme swapped". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 November 2010. Archived from the original on 20 November 2010. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
26. "Cloncurry Solar Farm closure". statements.qld.gov.au. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
27. "CLONCURRY AIRPORT". Climate statistics for Australian locations. Bureau of Meteorology. 8 December 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
28. Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia #94335 - climatebase.ru
29. Perlez, Jane (18 November 2007). "Aboriginal Lit". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 17 April 2009. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
30. Fitzgerald, Ross (24 August 2010). "Bob Katter plays hard in crusade for the bush". The Australian. Archived from the original on 5 November 2010. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
31. "Athlete profile for Robert Crowther". International Association of Athletics Federations. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
32. "Cloncurry". Centre for the Government of Queensland. Archived from the original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
33. "Cloncurry Bob McDonald Library". Public Libraries Connect. State Library of Queensland. 22 April 2014. Archived from the original on 30 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
34. "Branch locations". Queensland Country Women's Association. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
35. Moore, Blythe (26 November 2014). "Outback town remembers true 'lady' of the bush". ABC North West Queensland. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 31 December 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
36. "Opening and closing dates of Queensland Schools". Queensland Government. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
37. "Cloncurry State School P-12". Archived from the original on 4 February 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
38. "Cloncurry State School P-12 Queensland State School Reporting 2015 School Annual Report" (PDF). Cloncurry State School. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 February 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
39. Australia. Royal Australian Air Force. Historical Section (1995), Logistics units, AGPS Press, ISBN 978-0-644-42798-2

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cloncurry, Queensland.

• University of Queensland: Queensland Places: Cloncurry
• Town map of Cloncurry, 1983