CHARLEVILLE, QUEENSLAND

---

Outback township in western Queensland.
Location: 750 km from Brisbane; 300 m above sea-level on the banks of the Warrego River.
Origin of name: most people expect the town's name to have some quirky connection to an eccentric bushman of old, but such is not the case. In 1868 William Alcock Tully (1830-1905), the Queensland Under-Secretary for Public Lands and Chief Commissioner for Crown Lands, surveyed the town and named it after his boyhood home in County Cork, Ireland, near the boundary of County Limerick, currently (1995) known as Rath Luirc. The name originally came from France.
Brief history: the region was first explored by Edmund Kennedy during his 1847 journey. During this expedition Kennedy passed within 10 km of the present site of Charleville. By 1866 a pub and other buildings had been erected and the nucleus of the town had been formed. Before the railway came in 1888, as many as 500 bullock teams a day would pass through Charleville, carrying woolclip to the railhead at Roma. It was also on a major stock route. In 1920, the first regular Qantas service took off from Charleville bound for Cloncurry. Today, it retains its transport links, being home to the southern Qld base of the Royal Flying Doctor Service and the School of Distance Education.
Natural features: Warrego River; Fauna Display .
Built features: Royal Flying Doctor Service base; School of Distance Education (previously known as the School of the Air).
Heritage features: Queensland National Bank building (now Historical House, 1881); Steiger Vortex Rainmaker Gun