Springsure
Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English Template:GeoGroup Template:Infobox Australian place Springsure is a rural town and locality in the Central Highlands Region, Queensland, Australia.<ref name="qpnt">Template:Cite QPN</ref><ref name="qpnl">Template:Cite QPN</ref> In the Template:CensusAU, the locality of Springsure had a population of 950 people.<ref name=Census2021/>
GeographyEdit
Springsure is situated Template:Convert by road south of Emerald, at the southern end of the Gregory Highway, and at the northern end of the Dawson Highway. Springsure is Template:Convert northwest of Brisbane.
The terrain varies from Template:Convert above sea level, with a number of named mountain features:
- Mount Booramool (Template:Coord) Template:Convert<ref name="MountainPeaksCapes">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite QPN</ref>
- Mount Zamia (Template:Coord) Template:Convert<ref name="MountainPeaksCapes" /><ref>Template:Cite QPN</ref>
- Eclipse Gap (Template:Coord)<ref name="MountainPeaksCapes" />
The Minerva Hills National Park is in the north-west of the locality (Template:Coord).<ref name=":0">Template:Cite QPN</ref><ref name=":1" />
The town of Springsure serves the surrounding community of cattle farms, and sunflower, sorghum, wheat and chickpea plantations.Template:Citation needed
Springsure is the hub for several coal mines such as the Minerva Mine and the Rolleston Mine. Significant exploration is ongoing in the district.Template:Citation needed
Springsure was served by a branch railway from the Central Western railway line. The Springsure branch railway line separated from the main line at Springsure Junction station (now Nogoa station), near Emerald. The locality was served two railway stations:
- Zamia railway station, serving north of the town (Template:Coord)<ref name="railwaystations">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Springsure railway station, serving the town (Template:Coord)<ref name="railwaystations" />
Springsure Airport is south of the town on Airport Drive (Template:Coord).<ref name="airports">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is operated by the Central Highlands Regional Council but it is only suitable for light aircraft, has limited facilities, requires permission, and care needs to be taken in relation to wildlife and lifestock.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ClimateEdit
HistoryEdit
The area had been occupied by Aboriginal people for thousands of years. Gangalu (Gangulu, Kangulu, Kanolu, Kaangooloo, Khangulu) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken on Gangula country. The Gangula language region includes the towns of Clermont and Springsure extending south towards the Dawson River.<ref>Template:Cite SLQ-CC-BY</ref> Wadja (also known as Wadjigu, Wadya, Wadjainngo, Mandalgu, and Wadjigun) is an Australian Aboriginal language in Central Queensland. The language region includes the local government areas of the Aboriginal Shire of Woorabinda and Central Highlands Region, including the Blackdown Tablelands. the Comet River, and the Expedition Range, and the towns of Woorabinda, Springsure and Rolleston.<ref>Template:Cite SLQ-CC-BY</ref>
Ludwig Leichhardt was the first European to explore the area, doing so between 1844 and 1845. His favourable reports encouraged settlers to move in and settle the land.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 1861, squatter Horatio Wills and a party of Victorian settlers arrived near modern-day Springsure in 1861. Two weeks later, 19 men women and children, including Wills, were killed by Aboriginal Australian people, the Kairi or Gayiri, in the Cullin-La-Ringo massacre, which was the largest massacre of European settlers by Aboriginal peoples in Australian history.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> At least 15 Aboriginal men, women and children were killed by the Queensland Native Police and militias of local European colonists and their employees in a series of reprisals over the months that followed.<ref>T. Bottoms (2013) Conspiracy of Silence: Queensland's frontier killing times, Allen & Unwin, pp.53-54</ref> However, the massacre of the 19 European family members was itself a retaliatory response to an earlier shooting of fugitive murderer who was Gayiri tribesman by Jesse Gregson, manager of nearby Rainsworth Station, with Second Lieutenant Alfred March Patrick and Native Police Troops in his command.<ref>T Bottoms (2013) Conspiracy of Silence: Queensland's frontier killing times, Allen & Unwin, p.54</ref> Prior to the massacre of the 19 colonists, in early 1861 Second Lieutenant Patrick had complained to Charles Dutton, lessee of Bauhinia Downs pastoral lease Template:Convert south-east of Springsure, that other officers in the Queensland Native Police "...had been able to bag their first Aborigine after only a few weeks in the Force; he had served for six months and still had not yet killed a black."<ref>G. Reid, "From Hornet Bank to Cullin-La-Ringo", Royal Historical Society of Queensland, 18 May 1981, p.69</ref> The Old Rainworth Fort was built in 1862 by the colonists of Springsure in order to defend themselves from future raids by Aboriginals. Horatio's son, star cricketer and Australian rules football pioneer Tom Wills, survived the massacre, and remained on site until 1864.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The town takes its name from a pastoral run which was first named Springsure in 1861, after its permanent spring.<ref name="qpnt" /><ref name="qpnl" />
The town was surveyed by Charles Frederick Gregory in August 1863.<ref name="qpnt" />
On Sunday 7 April 1867, the first Springsure Presbyterian Church was opened in Charles Street. It was Template:Convert with Template:Convert high walls.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1922, it was replaced by a new church building known as St Andrew's Presbyterian Church.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It closed in March 2011 after 145 years.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It was at 55 Charles Street (Template:Coord).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Springsure State School opened on 14 March 1870 under head teacher John Henry Nicholson, son of an eminent scholar, John Nicholson, a friend of Ludwig Leichhardt.<ref>Template:Cite QldSchool</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The Springsure branch railway line opened on 15 August 1887.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The section beyond Wurba Junction to Springsure railway station was closed on 26 June 2013.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
On 6 December 1919, the Springsure State School Memorial Fountain was dedicated by Mrs Annie Wheeler (née Laurie), a former pupil at the school. The memorial is a marble fountain and commemorates students of the school who served in World War I.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In March 1925, the Rev. Father Thomas Andrew Sweeney arrived in Springsure to replace Rev. Father Jules Bucas as the Catholic priest for the parish.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Sweeney saw that there was a need for a Catholic school in Springsure and set about building a school and a convent for its teachers in August 1925.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The architect was Roy Chipps and the builder E.H. Fletcher, both of Rockhampton. In January 1926 the school and the convent opened in a ceremony led by Roman Catholic Bishop of Rockhampton Joseph Shiel. The convent and school were under the control of Sister Mary Bonaventure of the Sisters of Mercy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The school opened on 2 February 1926 with 64 children.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="qfhs2">Template:Citation</ref> It was originally known as The Convent of the Little Flower,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but the name was later changed to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
On 16 November 1943, a Douglas C-47A Skytrain broke up in mid-air during a violent storm in the area, and crashed on Rewan Station, around 100 km south of Springsure.<ref name="Dunn">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> All 19 people on board the aircraft perished in the crash.<ref name="Dunn" />
Minerva Hills National Park was gazetted in 1994.<ref name=":0" />
DemographicsEdit
In the Template:CensusAU, the locality of Springsure had a population of 829 people.<ref name=Census2006>Template:Census 2006 AUS</ref>
In the Template:CensusAU, the locality of Springsure had a population of 1,103 people.<ref name=Census2016>Template:Census 2016 AUS</ref>
In the Template:CensusAU, the locality of Springsure had a population of 950 people.<ref name=Census2021>Template:Census 2021 AUS</ref>
Heritage listingsEdit
.jpg){kind=link}
Springsure has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
- Springsure Hospital Museum, 13 Woodbine Street (Template:Coord)<ref>Template:Cite QHR</ref>
- Old Rainworth Stone Store, Wealwandangie Road, now in neighbouring Cairdbeign<ref>Template:Cite QHR</ref>
EducationEdit
Springsure State School is a government primary and secondary (Prep-10) school for boys and girls at 55 Eclipse Street (Template:Coord).<ref name="SchoolList2018">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 158 students with 21 teachers (16 full-time equivalent) and 14 non-teaching staff (8 full-time equivalent).<ref name="ACARA2017">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The school motto is 'Success by Effort'.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School is a Catholic primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at Gap Street (Template:Coord).<ref name="SchoolList2018" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 50 students with 7 teachers (6 full-time equivalent) and 6 non-teaching staff (2 full-time equivalent).<ref name="ACARA2017" />
There is no secondary education for Years 11 and 12 in Springsure. The nearest school offering secondary education for these years is in Emerald, but it might be out of range for a daily commute in which case distance education and boarding school are alternatives.<ref name="qfhs2" />
FacilitiesEdit
The Central Highlands Regional Council operate a public library in Springsure at 27 Eclipse Street.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The Springsure branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association has its rooms at 27 Eclipse Street.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Springsure has the following facilities:
- Springsure Cemetery (Template:Coord)<ref name="CemeteryAreas">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Springsure sewage treatment plant (Template:Coord)<ref name="LandmarkAreas">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Springsure Ambulance Station (Template:Coord)<ref name="emergencyservices">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Springsure Police Station (Template:Coord)<ref name="emergencyservices" />
- Springsure Fire Station (Template:Coord).<ref name="emergencyservices" />
- Springsure SES Facility (Template:Coord)<ref name="emergencyservices" />
- Springsure Multipurpose Health Service, a public hospital (Template:Coord)<ref name="LandmarkAreas" />
Other facilities in Springsure include the airport, a caravan park, motocross track, service station and showground.
AttractionsEdit
A cliff face in the mountains just to the north of the town is known as the Virgin Rock, so named because it looked like the Virgin Mary cradling the baby Jesus. Subsequent erosion led to the rock resembling the baby Jesus falling away, but the original resemblance to the Virgin Mary remains.<ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Notable residentsEdit
- Lucy Harriet Eatock, who was a political activist was born (and later married) here in 1974.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
- John Denis Fryer, after whom the Fryer Library at the University of Queensland is named
- John Humphreys, Olympic fencer
- Roy Moore, U.S. judge and Senate candidate, worked on the Telemon cattle station outside town in 1984.
- Keith Slater, Anglican priest in Springsure, later Bishop of Grafton
- Theophilus Wilson, cricketer
GalleryEdit
- Staircase Range Cutting, near Springsure, Queensland - info sign 01.jpg
Staircase Range Cutting, near Springsure, Queensland - information sign
- Staircase Range Cutting, near Springsure, Queensland.jpg
Staircase Range Cutting, near Springsure, Queensland
- Staircase Range Cutting, near Springsure, Queensland - detail of hand tooling.jpg
Staircase Range Cutting, near Springsure, Queensland - detail of hand tooling
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}
- {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}
Template:Central Highlands Region Template:Central Queensland