Paluma, Queensland

Paluma is a town in the City of Townsville and a locality split between the City of Townsville and the Charters Towers Region in Queensland, Australia.[1][2][3] It is a township of around 28 permanent residents in the Mount Spec Ranges and is the southernmost point of Townsville's heritage-listed Wet Tropics.

Paluma Queensland
Paluma
Coordinates	19.0095°S 146.2094°E / -19.0095; 146.2094
Postcode(s)	4816
Area	2,443.5 km^2 (943.4 sq mi)
LGA(s)	Townsville City Charters Towers Region
State electorate(s)	Traeger Hinchinbrook
Federal Division(s)	Kennedy
Localities around Paluma: Mount Fox Upper Stone Yuruga Bambaroo Crystal Creek Valley Of Lagoons Paluma Clemant Lynam Basalt Dotswood Hervey Range

History

Paluma developed from a mining and forestry background. The first people to arrive here were tin prospectors in the 1870s after an abundance of tin in the mountains. The area remained isolated until a road was built up the range in the 1930s. This industry lasted for years until landowners worked together to shut it down. The tin industry was using the creeks for washing the tin, however this was incompatible with using the creeks for the Paluma's water supply.

Paluma Temporary School opened on 28 September 1950, becoming Paluma State School in 1952. The school closed on 19 July 1968 due to falling enrolments.[4][5][6]

Heritage listings

The Mount Spec Road and Little Crystal Creek Bridge is a heritage-listed road with stone-faced arch bridge in the Mount Spec Ranges built in 1933. It is the only arch road bridge that remains in service in Queensland.[7] Crystal clear water flows down the creek filling the deep pools of Little Crystal Creek, making it an excellent natural swimming hole. It is listed on the Queensland Heritage Register.

Education

The Paluma Environmental Education Centre was established in 1977 by the Queensland Department of Education on what used to be the site of the Paluma State School. Visiting groups are mostly year 6 or 7 primary, but the school does cater for students from years 1 to 12. The school provides an opportunity to embrace the natural environment with one of the classrooms built underneath the canopy of the forest.[8]

See also

• Paluma Dam

References

1. "Paluma - town in City of Townsville (entry 25935)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
2. "Paluma - locality in City of Townsville (entry 44625)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
3. "Paluma - locality in Charters Towers Region (entry 44550)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
4. Queensland Family History Society (2010), Queensland schools past and present (Version 1.01 ed.), Queensland Family History Society, ISBN 978-1-921171-26-0
5. "GOSSIP". Townsville Daily Bulletin. LXX. Queensland, Australia. 29 August 1950. p. 6. Retrieved 1 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
6. "Agency ID 6426, Paluma State School". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
7. "Mt Spec Road and Little Crystal Creek Bridge (entry 602652)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
8. Paluma Environmental Centre

Further reading

• Venn, Linda (2002). Paluma : the first eighty years 1870s-1950s (PDF). Thuringowa City Council. ISBN 978-0-9577305-5-7. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 October 2019.