Betoota, Queensland

Betoota is a ghost town within the locality of Birdsville, in the Shire of Diamantina, in the Channel Country of Central West Queensland, Australia.[2] The last permanent resident, Sigmund Remienko, died in 2004. Betoota is situated on a gibber plain (a stony desert plain) 170 kilometres (110 mi) east of Birdsville and 227 kilometres (141 mi) west of Windorah.

Betoota
Queensland
Store in Betoota, 1903
Betoota
Location in Queensland
Coordinates25°41′37″S 140°44′40″E
Population0 (2014)[1]
Established1887
Postcode(s)4482
Location
  • 1,530 km (951 mi) W of Brisbane
  • 1,367 km (849 mi) N of Adelaide
  • 175 km (109 mi) E of Birdsville
LGA(s)Shire of Diamantina
State electorate(s)Gregory
Federal Division(s)Maranoa

The town has been designated as Australia's smallest.[3] The only facilities in Betoota are a racetrack, a dry weather airstrip and a cricket field.[4] Visitors are drawn to the town during the annual Simpson Desert Carnival which is held in September.[4][5]

History

Karuwali (also known as Garuwali, Dieri) is a language of far western Queensland. The Karuwali language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Diamantina Shire Council, including the localities of Betoota and Haddon Corner.[6]

The town was surveyed in 1887,[4] but only three streets were ever named.[7] The Betoota Hotel was constructed in the late 1880s and is the last remaining building in town[4] outside the race track. The building is constructed of sandstone and has timber floors.

In 1885, the Queensland Government opened a customs post to collect a toll for stock travelling the stock route.[4] Betoota was once a Cobb & Co change station.[3][4]

In 1895, a police presence was established in the town as construction of a rabbit-proof fence in the region was attracting many "undesirable characters" to the town.[7] A police station with a court was built in 1915 but was closed in 1930 because an inspection in 1928 found no-one had been taken into custody or placed before the court in more than five years.

The hotel operated until 1997, when its owner, Sigmund (Simon) Remienko, retired at 82 years of age. Originally from Poland, Remienko worked as a grader driver until he bought the Betoota Hotel in 1957.[3] He owned it for 47 years, and was Betoota's sole resident until ill-health forced him to move. The hotel closed in October 1997. Remienko died in 2004.[7][8][9]

In 2017, Robert Haken, a smash repairer from Logan, bought the long-defunct hotel from the couple Remienko had left it to. It was being restored, with the aim of reopening in time for the Betoota Races in August 2018.[10] However, that goal was not achieved, "due to paperwork".[11] The Betoota Hotel re-opened on 20 July 2020.[12][13][14]

Status

The town is now deserted, except for tourists in the dry season.

Heritage listings

Betoota has a number of heritage-listed sites, including a protected area known as Burke and Wills "Plant Camp".[15]

The town's name has been used by the Australian satirical news website and digital media company, The Betoota Advocate (although the company is actually based in Sydney). It purports to be "Australia's oldest newspaper".

gollark: Indeed. We could just not do bad things and it would be fine.
gollark: The political system being as it is does not help.
gollark: People are predisposed to pay more attention to obvious immediate problems than abstract ones.
gollark: Air pollution is not an obvious problem. A few nuclear power plants doing moderately bad things is.
gollark: Unfortunately, apiobees.

See also

References
  1. "Betoota – Destination Information". Government of Queensland. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  2. "Betoota - town (entry 2417)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  3. Greg Roberts (17 November 2002). "Make it a double - it could be ages before anyone else arrives". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 16 September 2009.
  4. "Visitor Information: Betoota". Diamantina Shire Council. Archived from the original on 16 June 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
  5. John Wright (23 August 2009). "Betoota, population zero, until race day". Courier Mail. Queensland Newspapers. Retrieved 16 September 2009.
  6. This Wikipedia article incorporates CC-BY-4.0 licensed text from: "Indigenous languages map of Queensland". State Library of Queensland. State Library of Queensland. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  7. Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland) (2002). Heritage Trails of the Queensland Outback. State of Queensland. p. 129. ISBN 0-7345-1040-3.
  8. Roberts, Greg (16 November 2002). "Make it a double - it could be ages before anyone else arrives". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  9. "Betoota, Australia's smallest town". Royal Automobile Club of Queensland. Archived from the original on 23 October 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  10. "Betoota Hotel to reopen after 20 years in a town with no people". Brisbane Times. 19 January 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  11. Barry, Derek (23 August 2018). "Betoota pub opening delayed due to paperwork". The North West Star. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  12. July 2020 The Betoota Hotel is Open!!!, retrieved 9 August 2020
  13. "Betoota Hotel". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  14. Madigan, Michael (9 August 2020). "Betoota Back in Business". The Courier-Mail. p. 25.
  15. "Burke and Wills "Plant Camp" (entry 645622)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
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