Croydon, Queensland
| Croydon Queensland |
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 Croydon
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| Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | ||||||||
| Population | 312 (2011 census)[1] | ||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 4871 | ||||||||
| Elevation | 116 m (381 ft)[2] | ||||||||
| Location |
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| LGA(s) | Croydon Shire Council | ||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Mount Isa | ||||||||
| Federal Division(s) | Kennedy | ||||||||
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Croydon is a town and locality within the Shire of Croydon in Queensland, Australia.[3][4] At the 2011 census, the town and surrounding area recorded a population of 312 people.[1]
Contents
History
The historic goldrush town of Croydon is located in the heart of the Gulf Savannah, 529 kilometres (329 mi) west of Cairns.[5] Croydon was a large pastoral holding covering an area of approximately 5,000 square kilometres (2,000 sq mi), when first settled in the 1880s. The town's name is derived from a pastoral run name, used by Alexander Brown and William Chalmers Brown, pastoralists, who reportedly were born in Croydon, England.[3][4] Gold was discovered in 1885 and by 1887, the town's population had reached 7,000. Croydon Post Office opened on 20 March 1886.[6]
Croydon State School was established on 12 September 1889 but did not open until 7 July 1890.[7][8]
Gold was to be the main economic production of the area for four decades. The Mining Warden left in 1926 as there were too few miners left on the field. During its heyday, Croydon was the fourth largest town in the colony of Queensland.
In 1917, Dr. Elkington, Director of the Division of Tropical Hygiene, Commonwealth Department of Health, was concerned about health and hygiene of its growing population, contemplated conducting a statistical and social survey of the town, which did not eventuate. Elkington's interest in sociological surveys of gathering social and economic details on a population later developed into the 1924 Sociological Survey of White Women conducted from the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Townsville.[9]
Currently, Croydon has a much smaller population, having greatly decreased following the end of the gold rush. The population is now a few hundred people. The town is one of the termini for the Gulflander railway, opened for the gold rush in 1891 but now a tourist railway operated by Traveltrain. In early 2009, the close proximity of a receding cyclone ex-Cyclone Charlotte, caused torrential rain and Croydon to be flooded.[10] An estimated $5 million of damage was made to town infrastructure.[11]
Heritage listings
Croydon has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
- Croydon: Homeward Bound Battery and Dam[12]
- Gulf Developmental Road: Content Mine[13]
- Gulf Development Road: Richmond Mine and Battery[14]
- Helen Street: Croydon Station, Normanton to Croydon Railway[15]
- Julia Creek Road: Croydon Cemetery, Queensland[16]
- Normanton (Gulf Development) Road: Golden Gate Mining and Town Complex[17]
- Normanton Road: Station Creek Cemetery[18]
- Normanton to Croydon: Normanton to Croydon Railway Line[19]
- Off Gulf Development Road: Chinese Temple and Settlement Site[20]
- Samwell Street: Court House (former)[21]
- Samwell Street: Croydon Shire Hall[22]
- Samwell Street: Police Reserve Complex (former)[23]
- Sircom Street: Croydon State Emergency Services Building[24]
- Tabletop Cemetery[25]
- West of the railway station: Old Croydon Cemetery[26]
Facilities
Croydon has a public library, swimming pool, golf course, lawn bowls, a museum, a tourist information centre, caravan park and a primary school.[27]
Croydon State School is a government primary school (years P-6) in Brown Street.[28] In 2014, it had 42 students enrolled with 2 classes (years P-3 and years 4-6) with 3 teachers.[29]
In popular culture
Croydon was mentioned in the 1950 novel "A Town Like Alice" by Nevil Shute, as an example of a largely abandoned gold rush town.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Bureau of Meteorology - Retrieved 2008-01-27
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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External links
Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons
- University of Queensland: Queensland Places: Croydon and Croydon Shire
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
