St George, Queensland

St George is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Balonne, Queensland, Australia.[2][3] It is the administrative centre for the Shire of Balonne. In the 2016 census, St George had a population of 3,048 people.[1]

St George
Queensland
Main street of St George
St George
Coordinates28.0363°S 148.5797°E / -28.0363; 148.5797 (St George (town centre))
Population3,048 (2016 census)[1]
 • Density0.27602/km2 (0.71490/sq mi)
Established1862
Postcode(s)4487
Elevation200.8 m (659 ft)
Area11,042.5 km2 (4,263.5 sq mi)
Time zoneAEST (UTC+10:00)
Location
LGA(s)Shire of Balonne
RegionSouth West Queensland
CountyBelmore
State electorate(s)Warrego
Federal Division(s)Maranoa
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall
27.5 °C
82 °F		 13.9 °C
57 °F		 516.8 mm
20.3 in
Localities around St George:
Bindebango
Begonia		 Wycombe
Wellesley		 Parknook
Teelba
Bollon St George Flinton
Dirranbandi Thallon
Weengallon		 North Bungunya
North Talwood

Geography
Jack Taylor Weir at St George

The town is 513 kilometres (319 mi) due west of Brisbane and the Gold Coast and sits just inside the region of South West Queensland, Australia.

St George is on the Balonne River which is reputedly an excellent fishing site for fish such as Yellowbelly and Murray Cod.

It sits at the junction of several highways including the Castlereagh Highway, the Moonie Highway, the Carnarvon Highway and the Balonne Highway. The only crossing of the Balonne River is the Andrew Nixon Bridge on the Balonne Highway.

History

Mandandanji (also known as Mandandanyi, Mandandanjdji, Kogai) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken by the Mandandanji people. The Mandandanji language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Maranoa Regional Council, particularly Roma, Yuleba and Surat, then east towards Chinchilla and south-west towards Mitchell and St George.[4][5]

The town was named by Major Thomas Mitchell who crossed the Balonne River on St George's Day, 23 April 1846.[6]

St George State School opened on 2 February 1874. In 1960 a secondary department was added which operated until St George State High School was opened in 1978.[7][8]

The St. George Standard and Balonne Advertiser newspaper was published from 1878 - 1879 and 1902 - 1904.[9]

Climate data for St George was collected at the St George Post Office from 1881 to 1997.[10]

The first St Patrick's Catholic Church was built in 1874; it is now known as the old parish hall.[11]

Burgorah South Provisional School opened in 1902. On 1 January 1909 it became Burgorah South State School. It closed on circa 1917.[7]

The Balonne Beacon newspaper was published in St George from 2 January 1909 to 29 December 1954.[12]

The Balonne Central Café opened on The Terrace in St George on 3 April 1912. T.C. Andrews was the first proprietor. Paspalas & Co. took over the café from 1924 to 1953, employing Ioanis Thanasis Tzonakas (Tsonakas) to assist them. Ioannis (alias Jack) was known in the district as John Jonacas. He was born in Vounichora, Fokida, Greece, (βουνιχώρα, Φωκίδα, Ελλάδα) in 1901. By the early 1930s Jack was a co-owner of the Balonne Central Café until 1953 when he retired from the cafe to start a hardware/building supplies business in Grey St, naming it Jonacas & Co. He died aged 69 in 1970 and is buried in St George General Cemetery.[13]

Myrtlemount Provisional School, Warrie Provisional School and Hollymount Provisional School (all named after local pastoral stations) opened on 29 September 1919 as a group of part-time schools (sharing a teacher between them). All three schools closed in 1922 due to low student numbers.[7]

Tow Towri State School opened circa 1931. It closed circa 1945.[7] Towtowri is a local pastoral property.[14]

St Patrick's Catholic School was established by the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart. The school opened on 19 February 1933.[11][7] However, rain caused the official opening and blessing by Bishop James Byrne to be postponed to Sunday 28 May 1933.[15][16] In 1988 the Sisters withdrew from the operation of the school and it is now under lay leadership.[11]

On 3 May 1959 the new St Patrick's Catholic Church was blessed and opened.[11]

St George State High School opened on 23 January 1978.[8]

Beardmore Provisional School opened on 29 August 1960 at Cooroorah. It was officially opened as Beardmore State School on 29 March 1963. It closed on 5 December 1997.[17]

Rocky Crossing State School opened on 25 January 1988 and closed on 31 December 2003.[7] It was 90 kilometres (56 mi) from St George.[18]

The town was severely affected by flooding in March 2010,[19] which peaked at 13.5 metres,[20] and again in December 2010 - January 2011.

At the 2011 census, St George had a population of 2,647.[21]

Flooding once again occurred in February 2012. When there was a possibility of the river reaching 15 metres, about 2000 residents were mandatorily evacuated on 4 and 5 February to evacuation centres in Dalby and Brisbane.[22] A temporary levee was built in St George on the morning of 5 February (Sunday).[20] The Balonne River reached a height of 13.85 metres on Tuesday 7 February.[22]

In the 2016 census, St George had a population of 3,048 people.[1]

Heritage listings

St George has the following heritage-listed sites:

Economy

The town is a centre for cotton growing, as well as sheep and wheat.

Facilities

St George has a visitor information centre, cultural centre, swimming pool, showground, bowling and the St George Golf Club. The address of the golf club is Wagoo Road.[24][25] It was opened in 1948.[26]

The town also has an airport, St George Airport.

Balonne Shire Council operates a library in Victoria Street.[27][28]

The St George branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association has its rooms at 73 Victoria Street.[29]

Education

St George State School is a government primary (Early Childhood-6) school for boys and girls at Grey Street (28.0377°S 148.5807°E / -28.0377; 148.5807 (St George State School)).[30][31] In 2015, the school had an enrolment of 217 students with 24 teachers (22 full-time equivalent) and 15 non-teaching staff (12 full-time equivalent).[32] In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 246 students with 25 teachers (24 full-time equivalent) and 17 non-teaching staff (13 full-time equivalent).[33] It includes a special education (Early Childhood-12) program.[30]

St Patrick's School is a Catholic primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 36-44 Balonne Street (28.0353°S 148.5865°E / -28.0353; 148.5865 (St Patrick's School)).[30][34] In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 180 students with 14 teachers (12 full-time equivalent) and 12 non-teaching staff (9 full-time equivalent).[33]

St George State High School is a government secondary (7-12) school for boys and girls at 2 Victoria Street (28.0304°S 148.5927°E / -28.0304; 148.5927 (St George State High School)).[30][35] In 2015, the school had an enrolment of 221 students with 25 teachers (22 full-time equivalent) and 24 non-teaching staff (17 full-time equivalent).[36] In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 205 students with 28 teachers (23 full-time equivalent) and 20 non-teaching staff (16 full-time equivalent).[33]

Events

The St George show is celebrated every year over the Labour Day long weekend (weekend of the first Monday in May). Everyone is encouraged to go and locals have a great time sharing stories at the bar and watching the rodeo.

Notable residents

St George gained national attention with the election of local accountant Barnaby Joyce to the Australian Senate following the 2004 federal election. It is also the hometown of National Rugby League player Dale Shearer.

See also

References
  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "St George (SSC)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  2. "St George – town in Shire of Balonne (entry 32064)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  3. "St George – locality in Shire of Balonne (entry 49752)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  4. "Mandandanji". State Library of Queensland. 15 January 2020.
  5. This Wikipedia article incorporates text from Spoken published by the State Library of Queensland under CC-BY licence, accessed on 15 January 2020.
  6. "St George – town (entry 32064)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  7. Queensland Family History Society (2010), Queensland schools past and present (Version 1.01 ed.), Queensland Family History Society, ISBN 978-1-921171-26-0
  8. "Opening and closing dates of Queensland Schools". Queensland Government. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  9. "The St. George Standard and Balonne Advertiser (Qld. : 1878 - 1879; 1902 - 1904)". Trove. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  10. "Summary statistics: St George Post Office". Climate statistics for Australian locations. Australian Bureau of Meteorology. 18 April 2019. Archived from the original on 15 May 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  11. "Our School". St Patrick's School, St George. Archived from the original on 8 May 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  12. "Balonne Beacon (St. George, Qld. : 1909 - 1954)". Trove. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  13. "Balonne Cafe, St George". State Library of Queensland. 17 September 2019. Archived from the original on 14 January 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  14. "Queensland Globe". State of Queensland. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  15. "LOCAL and GENERAL". Balonne Beacon. Queensland, Australia. 23 February 1933. p. 1. Retrieved 9 May 2020 – via Trove.
  16. "Visit of Bishop Byrne". Balonne Beacon. Queensland, Australia. 1 June 1933. p. 4. Retrieved 9 May 2020 – via Trove.
  17. "Agency ID 2814, Beardmore State School". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  18. "Agency ID 3730, Rocky Creek State School". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  19. "Locals evacuated ahead of 120-year flood". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 5 March 2010. Archived from the original on 30 March 2010. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
  20. "Mandatory evacuations ordered for St George as 15m flood predicted". News.com.au. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  21. Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "St George (Urban Centre/Locality)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 3 March 2009.
  22. Caruana, Patrick; Paull, Nathan (7 February 2012). "Flood-hit Qld resident wait in frustration". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  23. "The Anchorage, St George (entry 600015)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  24. "St George Golf Club". Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  25. "St George". Centre for the Government of Queensland. Archived from the original on 22 August 2011. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
  26. "St George Golf Club". Archived from the original on 26 June 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  27. "Library location and hours". Balonne Shire Council. Archived from the original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  28. "St George Library". Public Libraries Connect. State Library of Queensland. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  29. "Branch locations". Queensland Country Women's Association. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  30. "State and non-state school details". Queensland Government. 9 July 2018. Archived from the original on 21 November 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  31. "St George State School". Archived from the original on 1 April 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  32. "2015 School Annual Report" (PDF). St George State School. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  33. "ACARA School Profile 2017". Archived from the original on 22 November 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  34. "St Patrick's School". Archived from the original on 24 October 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  35. "St George State High School". Archived from the original on 1 April 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  36. "2015 School Annual Report" (PDF). St George State High School. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2017.

Attribution

This Wikipedia article incorporates text from BALONNE CAFÉ, ST GEORGE (17 September 2019) published by the State Library of Queensland under CC-BY licence, accessed on 15 January 2019.

Further reading
  • St. George centenary souvenir 1846-1946. St. George Centenary Committee. 1946.
  • Barbe, Rhonda; Catholic Church. Diocese of Toowoomba (Qld.) (1983). Fifty years in dragon country : history of St. Joseph's Convent and St. Patrick's School, St. George, Queensland, 1933-1983. Diocesan Archives. ISBN 978-0-9593145-2-6.
  • Nolan, Carolyn (1996). St. George's Bridge : a sequicentennial history. Balonne Shire Council. ISBN 978-0-646-27859-9.
  • The first one hundred years. St. George State School Centenary Committee. 1974. ISBN 978-0-9597138-0-0.
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