Memorial to explorer Sir Thomas Mitchell

Blackall Wool Scour

Artesian pool at the Blackall Aquatic Centre

The Black Stump

An outback town famous for being the home town of Jackie Howe, 'the world's greatest ever blade shearer'. It is a major merino breeding and cattle sales centre. Blackall is said to be the home of the original Black Stump, which is the exact centre of a meridian square used by surveyors to align the borders of Qld back in 1887.

Where is it?: Queensland: Outback. Blackall is 31127 km north west of Brisbane, 101 kilometres north-west of Tambo and 106 kilometres south of Barcaldine on the Landsborough Highway.

Things to see and do:

Blackall's Aquatic Centre is home to an artesian spa and swimming pool. Blackall was the first Outback town to start drilling an artesian bore back in 1885.

Blackall is said to be the home of the original Black Stump, which marks the original Astro Station established in 1887. The ld tree stump was at the exact centre of a meridian square used by surveyors to align the borders of Queensland back in 1887. Unfortunately the original Black Stump was destroyed in a fire, however a petrified stump now marks the same spot. Places west of this point are said to be 'beyond the black stump', which was no man's land.

Black's Palace, located on Marston Station, constitutes the largest complex of Aboriginal drawings known to exist in Central Queensland. The paintings are set on the sandstone cliff faces of a gorge. There are some 9,471 figures in the area ranging from stencils of hands, feet, boomerangs and axes to drawings of spears, clubs, shields, snakes and lizards. Tragically the site is now closed to the public. For access, a permit is required. Access is with approved operators only, contact the Wanpa-rda Matilda Centre for access information on (07) 4651 2530.

The Blackall Wool Scour is 4.2 km north of town. The process of wool scouring, which had once been done by hand, involved putting the greasy wool through a special scouring solution, drying the cleaned wool, then pressing it into bales. When the wool scour was built in 1906 it was considered a miracle of modern technology. It is open for inspection seven days a week from 8.00am - 4.00pm and guided tours are on offer.

Brief history: In 1868, the townsite was surveyed, gazetted and named in honour of Samuel Wensley Blackall, the governor of Queensland. The area around Blackall was explored by Sir Thomas Mitchell in 1846. He named the Barcoo River 'Victoria', believing that it flowed north into the Gulf of Carpentaria. Less than a year later Edmund Kennedy returned to the area and proved Mitchell incorrect by following the Barcoo until it became part of Cooper Creek. The town was established in 1864 and became a centre for the district's vast pastoral leases. It became a centre for transportation of cattle when the railway arrived in 1886.