Bogantungan

Bogantungan is a rural town in the locality of Willows in the Central Highlands Region, Queensland, Australia.[1]

Bogantungan
Queensland
Train on the Central Western line near Bogantungan, September 1989
Bogantungan is located in Queensland
Bogantungan
Bogantungan
Coordinates23.6477°S 147.2919°E / -23.6477; 147.2919
Postcode(s)4702
Time zoneAEST (UTC+10:00)
Location
LGA(s)Central Highlands Region
State electorate(s)Gregory
Federal division(s)Flynn

Geography

The town is 930 kilometres (580 mi) north west of the state capital Brisbane and 350 kilometres (220 mi) west of the regional city of Rockhampton.[2]

The Central Western railway line passes through the town which was once served by the Bogantungan railway station. The small number of houses in the town are located around the railway station. The Capricorn Highway once passed through the town but now bypasses it to the north.[2]

History

The name Bogantungan derives from Aboriginal words "bogan" meaning "grass" and "tungan" meaning "tree".[1]

The Central Western railway was built in sections, beginning at Rockhampton and then heading west. Each section involved establishing a temporary settlement to accommodate the workers while they were building the railway. After that section was complete, the workers moved further west were a new settlement was established. Although intended as temporary, some of these settlements continued to survive after the railway workers had moved on, becoming permanent towns. Bogantungan was one of these. In its heyday, it was a town of some thousands of people, with around 30 hotels.

In March 1881, the Queensland Government held a land sale, auctioning 48 town lots in the town of Bogantungan.[3]

Bogantungan Post Office opened on 8 July 1881 and closed in 1982.[4]

Bogantungan State School opened on 19 March 1883. It closed on 11 August 1972.[5] It was on Jackson Street (23.6501°S 147.2875°E / -23.6501; 147.2875 (Bogantungan State School (former))).[6][7]

Nearby Medway station, in the Bogantungan ranges, was established by Robert Donaldson and C.E. Glissan.[8] The Donaldson family, including Agnes Adelaide Donaldson moved there in 1909, and after the business partnership was dissolved the Donaldsons have continued to manage the property into the present day, as a cattle stud.[8][9]

On 26 February 1960, Bogantungan was the site of the Medway Creek rail disaster, one of Queensland's worst train accidents. The Midlander passenger train, heading east to Rockhampton, passed over the flooded Medway Creek, just west of the town. The bridge collapsed when the train was partly over, with a number of carriages dropping into the water. A total of 4 passengers and 3 crew were killed, with 43 injured.[10]

Attractions

Boguntungan Railway Station is now a small historical museum and rest area, with a memorial and interpretive panels about the rail disaster and the railway buildings.[11]

Education

There are no schools in Bogantungan. The nearest primary schools are in Lochington (48.5 kilometres (30.1 mi) south by minor roads), Anakie (55.5 kilometres (34.5 mi) east on the Capricorn Highway) or Alpha (71.5 kilometres (44.4 mi) west on the Capricorn Highway). The nearest secondary school is in Alpha (to Year 10 only). The nearest secondary school offering education to Year 12 is Emerald State High School in Emerald (98.3 kilometres (61.1 mi) east on the Capricorn Highway). Other secondary alternatives are distance education and boarding schools.[2]

References
  1. "Bogantungan – town in Central Highlands Region (entry 3430)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  2. "Queensland Globe". State of Queensland. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  3. "GOVERNMENT LAND SALE". The Week. Queensland, Australia. 19 February 1881. p. 5. Archived from the original on 2 October 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2020 – via Trove.
  4. Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Premier Postal Auctions. Archived from the original on 15 May 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  5. Queensland Family History Society (2010), Queensland schools past and present (Version 1.01 ed.), Queensland Family History Society, ISBN 978-1-921171-26-0
  6. "Town of Bogantungan" (Map). Queensland Government. 1971. Archived from the original on 14 January 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  7. "Queensland Globe". State of Queensland. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  8. "OBITUARY Mrs A. D. Donaldson". The Central Queensland Herald. Vol. 18, no. 1013. Queensland, Australia. 19 August 1948. p. 29. Retrieved 2 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. "Medway Droughtmasters". 2021. Retrieved 2 December 2022. Approximately 2100 head of breeders are run on 50,000 acres of grazing land....Medway has been owned by Donaldson family since 1908.
  10. Siegmeier, Melinda (24 June 2017). "Crash survivor recalls disaster". The Morning Bulletin. Archived from the original on 24 June 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
  11. "Bogantungan". Archived from the original on 25 February 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
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