Water Tower Barcaldine
Need for water storage Before 1914, the fire brigade could do little without water pressure. A proposal to build water storage was first made by T. Hannay of Geera in 1902. It was rejected as …
Month: May 2020
Telegraph & Post
Telegraph and Post Before the first dedicated post office was built, the post and telegraph master, J. Hyland, worked in Barcaldine from 1886 having moved from Jericho as soon as the railway line opened. The …
Tree of Knowledge
An unassuming Corymbia Papuana ghost gum was growing in 1886 in what became the main street of Barcaldine. The tree was situated beside the railway goods shed. When the railway line ended at Barcaldine – The …
Teamsters & Carriers
Teamsters were among the first to make their way out to the west after Mitchell explored the area in the 1840s. The land was surveyed into consolidated holdings, with managers and owners, the rural gentry …
Jackson Bros – Drovers
Who were the Jackson Bros? The Jackson Bros company comprised Barlow and Jack, and operated for over 20 years. Their droving business was based in Barcaldine, and they moved stock ‘the length and breadth of the …
Oscar Bancke, Chemist
Oscar Bancke, from Denmark, arrived in Blackall somewhere around 1887, and managed the chemist’s business of Mr Allan-Waters. When Mr Allan-Waters moved to Barcaldine, Mr Bancke bought the business and set himself up as a …
Barcaldine High School
First High School in Central Western Queensland In 1909 Barcaldine became the first western town to have a high school. It was established by H. Arthur McKail, a man proud of his association with Geelong …
Barcaldine Convent School – St Joseph’s
The Convent School First 1896, Second 1904, Third 1962 The Barcaldine Convent opened on 3 February, 1896. A school was part of the convent with almost 100 pupils in the charge of Sisters Mary Muredach …
Barcaldine State School
The first school in Barcaldine In January 1887 a tender of £684 from Moir, Cousins and Co. was accepted by the Works Department to build a State School in Barcaldine. The building was handed over to a …
Barcaldine Grammar School
The second attempt to establish a private School 1915-1918 In 1915, using the same buildings as the failed Barcaldine High School, the Church of England opened the Barcaldine Grammar School – on the day Australians …