Croydon, Queensland

Croydon is a town and locality within the Shire of Croydon in Queensland, Australia.[3][4] It is a terminus for the Normanton to Croydon railway line, which operates the Gulflander tourist train. At the 2016 census, Croydon had a population of 258 people.[1]

Croydon
Queensland
Croydon Shire Hall, 2011
Croydon
Coordinates18°12′S 142°14′E
Population258 (2016 census)[1]
Postcode(s)4871
Elevation116 m (381 ft)[2]
Location
LGA(s)Shire of Croydon
State electorate(s)Traeger
Federal Division(s)Kennedy
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall
33.9 °C
93 °F		 20.4 °C
69 °F		 731.6 mm
28.8 in
Localities around Croydon:
Karron Howitt Strathmore
Blackbull Croydon Gilbert River
Coralie Claraville Esmeralda

History

The historic goldrush town of Croydon is located in the heart of the Gulf Savannah, 529 kilometres (329 mi) west of Cairns.[5] Mining in the area quickly drove out the Bugulmara people indigenous to the area. Croydon was a large pastoral holding owned by Alexander Brown and Margaret Chalmers that covered 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, that was used by their sons, Alexander Brown and William Chalmers Brown, pastoralists; William Chalmers Brown was born in Croydon, England in 1841 and is buried at Toowong cemetery in Brisbane.[3][4][6] Gold was discovered in 1885 and by 1887, the town's population had reached 7,000. Croydon Post Office opened on 20 March 1886.[7]

Croydon State School was established on 12 September 1889 but did not open until 7 July 1890.[8][9]

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.[10]

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.[11] An estimated $5 million of damage was made to town infrastructure.[12]

At the 2011 census, the town and surrounding area recorded a population of 312 people.[13]

Heritage listings
The heritage listed Croydon Town Hall, built in 1892

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

Facilities
Croydon State School, circa 1893

Croydon has a swimming pool, golf course, lawn bowls, a museum, a tourist information centre, caravan park and a primary school.[29] The Croydon Shire Council operates a public library at 63 Samwell Street.[30]

Croydon State School is a government primary school (years P-6) in Brown Street.[31] In 2014, it had 42 students enrolled with 2 classes (years P-3 and years 4-6) with 3 teachers.[32]

Water supply is sourced from Lake Belmore.[33]

Croydon was mentioned in the 1950 novel A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute, as an example of a largely abandoned gold rush town. Australian Country music singer-songwriter Jamey Fitzgerald had lived in Croydon during his teen age years and early adulthood. In 2012 he was featured on television Channel 9 discussing his music and life living in the town.

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gollark: <@231856503756161025> ABR isn't actually here.
gollark: ++magic reload_config

References
  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Croydon (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  2. Bureau of Meteorology Archived 2 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine - Retrieved 27 January 2008
  3. "Croydon (town) (entry 8889)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  4. "Croydon (locality) (entry 41776)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  5. "Croydon Shire Council". Croydon Shire Council. Archived from the original on 29 October 2009. Retrieved 15 November 2009.
  6. "FreeBMD". Archived from the original on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 28 May 2016. Births Jun 1841, Brown, William Chalmers, Croydon
  7. Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Premier Postal Auctions. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  8. "Opening and closing dates of Queensland Schools". Queensland Government. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  9. "Agency ID 5145, Croydon State School". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  10. Colclough, Gillian (11 February 2008), The measure of the woman : eugenics and domestic science in the 1924 sociological survey of white women in North Queensland (PDF), James Cook University, archived (PDF) from the original on 27 July 2014, retrieved 16 June 2014
  11. ABC News (13 January 2009). "Qld flood disaster bill tops $25 million". Australian Broadcasting Corporartion. Archived from the original on 20 November 2009. Retrieved 15 November 2009.
  12. ABC News (23 July 2009). "Flood-hit roads hampering livestock trucks". Australian Broadcasting Corporartion. Archived from the original on 30 November 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2009.
  13. Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Croydon (State Suburb)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  14. "Homeward Bound Battery and Dam (entry 600439)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  15. "Content Mine (entry 602243)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  16. "Richmond Mine and Battery (entry 601857)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  17. "Croydon Station, Normanton to Croydon Railway (entry 600440)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  18. "Croydon Cemetery (entry 602376)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  19. "Golden Gate Mining and Town Complex (entry 700005)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  20. "Station Creek Cemetery (entry 602375)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  21. "Normanton to Croydon Railway Line (entry 600396)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  22. "Chinese Temple and Settlement Site (entry 602079)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  23. "Court House (former) (entry 600437)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  24. "Croydon Shire Hall (entry 601653)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  25. "Police Reserve Complex (former) (entry 601153)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  26. "Croydon State Emergency Services Building (entry 600438)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  27. "Tabletop Cemetery (entry 602371)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  28. "Old Croydon Cemetery (entry 602374)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  29. "Croydon". Centre for the Government of Queensland. Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  30. "Croydon Library". Public Libraries Connect. State Library of Queensland. 31 August 2016. Archived from the original on 17 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  31. "Queensland State and Non-State Schools". Queensland Government. 24 February 2014. Archived from the original on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  32. "2014 School Annual Report" (PDF). Croydon State School. 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 September 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  33. "Lake Belmore". Cloncurry Shire Council. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2016.

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