ICEM - Charleville ICEM Charleville, Queensland, Australia
By youngoldfella on 05-Apr-19. Waypoint GA13683

Charleville ICEM

CHARLEVILLE QLD.

Located in south western Queensland, Australia, Charleville is 683 kilometres (424 mi) west of Brisbane (the Queensland capital). It is the largest town and administrative centre of the Shire of Murweh, which covers an area of 43,905 square kilometres. Charleville is situated on the banks of the Warrego River, and is the terminus for the Warrego Highway.

The first European exploration of the area, which was Kunja tribal land, was conducted by Edmund Kennedy in 1847. A hotel was built in 1865, and a town began to grow to service the region. It was situated near Gowrie's Crossing, a permanent waterhole, now on the outskirts of the modern town. Gowrie Station had been established around the crossing along a natural stock route, for the grazing of sheep and cattle. The town was gazetted on 11 January 1865. It was planned with very wide streets to enable bullock teams of up to 14 pairs to turn with their wagons. It was William Alcock Tully, who was Commissioner of Crown Lands in the Warrego District from 1863 to 1864, who laid out the town's streets. An Irishman, Tully probably named the town after the town of Charleville, County Cork, Ireland. Members of the Roma-based Skinner family established a store in the town in 1872 that became known as the Warrego Stores.

Charleville Post Office opened on 1 August 1865.

In September 1875, the Queensland Government called for tenders to erect a courthouse in Charleville. The foundation stone (actually a bloodwood block) was laid on 23 November 1875. By January 1876, the courthouse was almost finished.

n December 1884, the Queensland Government called for tenders to erect a hospital in Charleville. In March 1885 the contract was awarded to Richards and King for £2,265 10s. In November 1885, a hospital ball was held in the new hospital building, suggesting it was completed and opened around that time.

Cobb and Co, the legendary Australian stagecoach company, established a coach building business in the town in 1886, however, the railway arrived in 1888, beginning the long demise of coach transport in the area. Charleville station was the terminus for the Western railway line for more than a decade. Facilities included a locomotive depot, cattle and sheep yards, a 50-ton weighbridge, a booking and telegraph offices, goods shed, stationmaster's house, and guards, enginemen and firemen's cottages.

In 1902 Charleville was the location of an unsuccessful attempt by Clement Lindley Wragge to fire cannons into the clouds in order to break a drought. The cannons used remain on display in Charleville today.

Aerial view of Charleville in 1947

In 1922, Qantas established an airmail service between Charleville and Cloncurry. At the same time, this was Qantas's first regularly scheduled route and the second scheduled air route in Australia.

On 9 October 1924, the Charleville War Memorial was unveiled by Sir Matthew Nathan, the Governor of Queensland.

Charleville was also one of the compulsory stop over/check points during the London to Melbourne MacRobertson Air Race in 1934. The winners of the great race were Tom Campbell Black and C. W. A. Scott. Their triumph was reported in Time magazine as:

"Scott and Black, keeping up their sensational pace, flashed into Charleville, refueled, sped toward the finish where waiting thousands cheered their progress, reported over loudspeakers. With one motor dead, with only two hours sleep since leaving England, the Britons triumphantly set their scarlet torpedo down in Melbourne at 3:34 p.m. In 71 hr. 1 min. 3 sec. – Just under three days – they had flown halfway around the world."

Proximity to the Warrego River has been problematic. In April 1990, major floods hit western Queensland, with Charleville being badly affected. Floodwaters peaked at 8.54 metres, over 1,000 homes were inundated, and almost 3,000 people evacuated. More recently, the district suffered flooding again in 1997, 2008 and March 2010.[18][19] Flooding also occurred in February 2012.

There is a children's book called The Flood Grungies; it is written by Michelle Sheehan and illustrated by Donna Reynolds. It is about the notorious Charleville floods and features the Cosmos centre, the water tower and other famous landmarks.

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

• 87 Alfred Street: former Queensland National Bank
• Edward Street: Charleville War Memorial[
• King Street: Charleville railway station
• Mitchell Highway: Landsborough's Blazed Tree (Camp 67)
• 33 Wills Street: Hotel Corones[

as well as a number in nearby localities:

• 28 kilometres (17 mi) south-west of Charleville off the Diamantina Developmental Road in Bakers Bend: Myendetta Homestead
• 29 kilometres (18 mi) south of Charleville off the Mitchell Highway in Bakers Bend: Landsborough's Blazed Tree (Camp 69)

• Population

  According to the 2016 census of Population, there were 3,335 people in Charleville.

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 15.3% of the population.
• 83.6% of people were born in Australia. The next most common country of birth was Vietnam at 3.3%.
• 87.6% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Vietnamese at 3.5%.
• The most common responses for religion were Catholic 34.1%, Anglican 24.1% and No Religion 17.2%,

• Climate

  Charleville has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) verging on semi-arid (BSk), with maximum temperatures ranging from 35 °C (95 °F) in summer to 20 °C (68 °F) in winter. Summers are hot and sultry, although they can be very dry as well depending on the wind direction. Winters are mild to cool and crisp, with rather high diurnal ranges, which provide some frost. Rainfall is mild and distributed patchily throughout the year, with a peak in summer. Severe flooding events are usually caused by monsoon troughs and the remnants of tropical cyclones dumping large amounts of rain over the area; however, rain normally falls in the form of thunderstorms and light showers after hot summer days. Extremes have ranged from 46.4 °C (115.5 °F) to −5.2 °C (22.6 °F). The highest rainfall total recorded for one month was 316.0 millimetres (12.44 in) in March 2010.

Notable people

Davida Allen (born 1951), painter, film maker and writer

• Daryl Beattie (born 1970), former professional Grand Prix motorcycle racer and television motor sports commentator
• Richard Bell (born 1953), artist and political activist
• Cameron Boyce (born 1989), first-class cricketer
• Luke Capewell (born 1989), National Rugby League footballer
• Andrew Dutney (born 1958), President of the Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia
• Peter Everett, television presenter
• Richard Graham (born 1972), Australian Rugby Union coach
• Rhan Hooper (born 1988), former professional Australian rules footballer
• Matthew Mott (born 1973), former first-class cricketer and coach
• Libby Munro (born 1981), actress
• Neil Turner (1934–2011), politician
• Adrian Vowles (born 1971), former National Rugby League footballer
• Billy Rogers (born 1989), National Rugby League footballer
• There is plenty of safe off road parking close to GZ.
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