Historical Australian Towns

Glencoe, SA: Journey Back to The Early Pioneer Pastoralists

Glencoe is located on the Limestone Coast of South Australia, 27 kilometres north-west of Mount Gambier and 354.83 km from Adelaide.

Glencoe was first established in 1844 by Edward and Robert Leake as a sheep shearing station.

The Bungandidj people (spelled variously)

The name Bunganditj means Bung-an-ditj or “people of the reeds”.

The Aboriginal name for the wider Glencoe district was kilap meaning “deep water”.

Christina Smith, a Christian missionary who documented the lives, customs, legends, and language of the Buandig Indigenous Australians wrote (1880):

"The aborigines of the South-East were divided into five tribes, each occupying its own territory, and using different dialects of the same language. Their names were 'Booandik', 'Pinejunga', 'Mootatunga', 'Wichintunga', and 'Taloinjunga."

"The Booandik . . . was the largest and occupied that tract of country extending from the mouth of the Glenelg River to Rivoli Bay North, for about thirty miles inland. The other tribes occupied the country between Lacapede Bay and Border Town, abutting the Booandik country."

Neddy, from "The Booandik Tribe of South Australian Aborigines: A Sketch of Their Habits, Customs, Legends" ...by Christina Smith

Christina and her son Duncan Stewart learnt the Bungandidj language and Duncan was appointed an interpreter for this language in 1853.

According To Christina Smith: "Each tribe, as I have said, is divided into two distinct classes, the Kumite and Kroke. If a man is a Kumite, his wife must be a Kroke; and if a man is a Kroke, his wife must be a Kumite. The children belong to the mother's class."

"Infants are betrothed to one another by their parents. Girls are betrothed by the father, with the concurrence of his brothers, into some family which has a daughter to give in exchange. They term this "wootambau" (exchanging)."

In the Bungandidj world view, everything is divided into two halves. Fison and Howitt (1880) claimed that these moieties (class names) of the Bunganditj people as Kumite and Krokī, with feminine forms Kumitegor and Krokigor.

Within the Kumite class there were five major animal totems
boorte moola: fishhawk
boorte parangal: pelican
boorte wa: crow
boorte willer: black cockatoo
boorte karato: (harmless) snake

The Kroke class had 4 major totems:

boorte wirrmal: owl
boorte wsereoo: teatree scrub
boorte moorna: an edible root
boorte kara-al: white crestless cockatoo.Bungandidj people made digging sticks, boomerangs and throwing sticks out of wood from trees.

Queen Caroline, from "The Booandik Tribe of South Australian Aborigines: A Sketch of Their Habits, Customs, Legends" ...by Christina Smith

Tribal boundaries, according to Tindale, seemed to occur where there were topographical and environmental changes in the country.

Rock shelters and burial grounds may be found in the region.

In 1789, small-pox spread through the Aboriginal population, perhaps spread by sealers and whalers of south-eastern Australia, ahead of the appearance of Europeans in the region. Small-pox epidemics had catastrophic effects on Aboriginal people and populations.

Read (free) "The Booandik Tribe of South Australian Aborigines: A Sketch of Their Habits, Customs, Legends", by Christina Smith. (keep in mind that sources may come from a time that is very different to our own)

British Settlement

British settlement of South Australia began in 1836.

1840s

In January 1844, Robert Leake and his overseer John McIntyre, along with 15 men, drove 7,000 sheep from the Adelaide hills, settling at a lake they named Lake Leake. Originally their holdings consisted of 90,000 acres.

The station was named "Glencoe" by Robert Leake in honour of their manager John McIntyre's birthplace in Scotland. The Scottish Glencoe is infamous as a massacre site of 38 members of Clan MacDonald in 1692.

Glencoe means “Glen” meaning Valley, and “Coe” meaning View.

Hostilities and outrages between Aboriginals and Europeans commenced. Aboriginal people speared stock animals, and settlers retaliated with violence. Europeans abducted Aboriginal women for illicit purposes.

South Australian (Adelaide, SA : 1844 - 1851), Friday 27 December 1844

The Leake brothers reported that they lost 1,000 sheep from their 16,000 flock during 1845.[18] In that same year, Leake and six other armed horsemen confronted about 200 Aboriginal people who had taken a large number of sheep, dispersing them with a few gunshots.

Hostilities are reported to have continued around the Glenelg River region for the next two years.

As hunting and gathering became more difficult due to conflicts over land use and access, many Aboriginal people began living and working on farms or living in camps on the edge of town. Later, missions and reserves were established.

By the late 1840s, some Aboriginal people were employed on the squatters' properties in a variety of occupations, men as shepherds, shearers, bullock drovers and horsebreakers. Women were often domestic workers. The Leake's employed many Aboriginal shepherds and stockmen.

1850s

The original Glencoe Sation in 1854, built in the 1840s without a nail, Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931)

Lake Leake in 1854, SA, Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA : 1861 - 1954), Tuesday 3 December 1940

John Bull and Paunchey. Two noted Lake Leake Aboriginals of the fifties, Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931)

This long rectangular two storey house has a short verandah with an archway over its entrance. There is lawn and garden in front of the house and mature trees to the side. When this run was being established in the 1840s there was friction between settlers and the local Buandig tribe and even in 1854 when this homestead was built the situation must still have been tense. It is reputed that there were slits built into the walls of the homestead through which a rifle could be fired. [On back of photograph] 'Frontier House, Glencoe / built by Messrs Leake in 1854 / Undated, before 1926'. SLSA

1860s

Robert Leake died in 1860, and his brother, Edward took over management.

The Glencoe property was leased by John McIntyre from 1867 and later by John Tilley.

Built in 1863, the Glencoe woolshed, built from locally quarried stone and hand-hewn blackwood timbers, was never converted to mechanised shearing. During its heyday, around 50,000 sheep a day would be shorn here.

Glencoe developed from the early days, not as a town, but as two localities, known as Glencoe and Glencoe West.

The Glencoe area, however, did have a bakery, a hardware store, a mechanic, two cheese factories, two halls, two post offices, two sawmills, two shops, two schools and four churches.

1880s

In 1882 the majority of the Glencoe station was bought by the Riddoch family.

1890s

Frontier House : l-r Mrs Laird, Mr Laird, Frank Laird, Sophie Larid, - Harper, ?, Glencoe, SA. 1890, SLSA

In the 1890s the Riddoch family began selling acres of land to small landholders.

With the influx of families into the area, a school was established in 1894.

Shearers assembled by the woolshed, Glencoe, SA. 1893, SLSA

Frontier House - family members sitting on the verandah, Glencoe, SA. 1895, SLSA

1900s

The government divided Glencoe station in 1901 into settler farm blocks, with the first sold in 1902.

The shearer quarters at Glencoe farm was converted to the Glencoe Hall in 1904.

The Mount Gambier railway was extended to Glencoe in 1904.

The Parliamentary Party and Prominent residents of the South East at Glencoe., SA. Adelaide Observer (SA : 1843 - 1904), Saturday 3 September 1904

The Commissioner of Public Works (Hon. J. Vardon) addressing the children of the Glencoe and Tarqua Schools on the arrival of the First Train at Glencoe, SA. Adelaide Observer (SA : 1843 - 1904), Saturday 3 September 1904

The Glencoe Post Office, near the Railway Terminus, SA, Adelaide Observer (SA : 1843 - 1904), Saturday 3 September 1904

In 1904, a man named J. Medhurst was driving his horse and buggy near his property while it was raining, when Mr Medhurst heard "thump, thump" sounds around him in the cart. He was surprised to find it was raining frogs in Glencoe.

The strange "shower of frogs" at Glencoe may have been due to frogs from a nearby waterhole being caught up in a whirlwind during a storm and dropping to the ground as the storm abated.

Glencoe West Presbyterian Church was built in 1906.

1. Main Street, Glencoe West, SA. 2. Post office and refreshment rooms, Glencoe West, SA. Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 9 May 1908

Cheese factory, Glencoe West, SA. Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 9 May 1908

Glencoe Racing club was established in 1909.

The Glencoe Football Club was in existence in 1910 and the original colours of the club were red, white and blue.

Glencoe West Hall was built in 1911 and opened by George Riddoch.

A timber Methodist church opened 1911, a Catholic Church (Saint Brendans ) in 1911, and an Anglican church (Saint Pauls) 1913.

Opening of St. Brendan's Catholic church, Glencoe, SA, 1911, SLSA

Group at the recent celebration of the Golden Wedding of Mr. and Mrs. W. Sporer, of Glencoe, SA. Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 11 January 1913

Opening ceremony of Public Hall at Glencoe, SA. Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 25 May 1912,

WWI

Number 1105 BROOKS, Gordon Raymond. GRG26/5/4 Photographic Portraits of South Australian Soldiers, Sailors and Nurses who took part in World War One. Number 1105 BROOKS, Gordon Raymond. 43rd Battalion. Place of birth: Millicent. Residence: Glencoe West. SRSA ref GRG26/5/4/1105, State Records of SA

THE LATE PRIVATE E. MEDHURST. Private Edward Medhurst, who was killed in action in France on March 26, was the youngest son of the late Mr. and Mrs. James Medhurst, of Glencoe. He left Australia in August last. Private Med- Private E. Medhurst. Private E. Medhursthurst lived in Glencoe practically all his life, and was highly respected. He left a widow and three young children. He was 40 years of age, and was an expert shearer, having worked in all the principal sheds in the South East. Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 28 April 1917

Letitia Leake, who grew up on the Glencoe sheep station, later inherited the equivalent of a $40m inheritance and moved to Britain with her family. During WWI, she and her husband donated their Harefield Park property, now in the London Borough of Hillingdon, to the Australian Government for use as an Australian-run hospital to help 50,000 wounded Anzacs. Letitia is buried with her family and many Anzac soldiers at Harefield.

As Glencoe had never had a hotel, in 1917, a vote was held on whether to establish a hotel in the town. The poll result was 34 in favour and 149 against.

1920s

Farmers and dairymen delivering their supplies to the Co-operative Cheese and Butter Factory at Glencoe, SA. Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 22 May 1926

South Eastern Times (Millicent, SA : 1906 - 1954), Friday 18 June 1926

1930s

Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA : 1861 - 1954), Tuesday 7 November 1933

A Methodist Church Hall was built in 1933.

Laying the foundation stone of the Methodist Church Hall, Glencoe, SA. Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA : 1861 - 1954), Saturday 1 April 1933

Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA : 1861 - 1954), Tuesday 13 March 1934

Six months ago the Highways Department erected a crusher adjoining the abrupt cliff at the Hanging
Rocks, a few chains from the Tantanoola Cave, to secure metal for the construction of the bitumen
road cn the Prince's Highway from The Snuggery to Glencoe. The stone is particularly suitable for road construction, and is somewhat similar to the red dolomite used for building, purposes. Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA : 1861 - 1954), Thursday 1 March 1934

BASKET-BALL IN THE SOUTH EAST. The Glencoe West Old Scholars Basket-ball Team, Premiers of the recently-formed Association. The team had an unbeaten record in Association matches during the past season. From left: — Zetta Koop, Clytie Koop (Captain), Margaret Tregenza, Belle Copping, Linda Ferguson, Estelle Telfer, and Nesta Koop.— A.C. Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 22 November 1934

GLENCOE FOOTBALL CLUB. Premiers of the South-Eastern B Grade Association. Back row(from left): A. Menzies, G. Copping, L. Widdison, R. B. KnowUng (treasurer) G Sporer E Menzips GTelfer Second: F. A Telfer (timekeeper), D. Menzies. C. Ferguson, A^Thompson, A ^^ Riddle T W Ron, G. R. Holloway (goalkeeper). Third row: E. HoUoway, I. W. Bateman (secretory) C RWdle fvicecaptain), S Burston (captain), P. J. Ryan (president), E. R. Edwards^ /N. Coping? RChilds. S?5n Tow' S. Hunter, Fred Bateman (mascot), L. Allen. Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 28 November 1935, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 28 November 1935

GLENCOE WEST WINS. Premiers in the South Eastern B Grade Cricket Association, the Glencoe West team comprised : — Back row (from left) : T. Ryan, H. Koop, T. Michell, C. Ferguson (vice-captain), G. Sporer, G. Ferguson. Front row: G. Kennedy, G. Copping, G. Telfer (captain), F. Telfer (president), B. Morris, and N. Copping (secretary).Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 15 July 1937

VERNA CARTHEW, daughter ofMr. and Mrs. J. T. Carthew, of Glencoe West, who secured her A.L.C.M. for pianoforte recently. Verna is 13 years and 8 months old and is a pupil of Miss I. E. Dunning. Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA : 1861 - 1954), Saturday 13 August 1938

WWII

Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA : 1861 - 1954), Tuesday 13 May 1941

1950s

The railway closed in the 1950s when the main line was changed from narrow to broad gauge.

A South Australian Railways Y class locomotive departs Glencoe, SA, for the final time in 1957 (John Masson)

1970s

The Glencoe Central School opened in 1972, was an amalgamation of the Glencoe and Glencoe West schools.

Glencoe Football Clubrooms opened in 1973.

2000s

2012: Birds were blamed for starting a grass fire at Glencoe, sparked by corellas eating the plastic covering on a transformer.

2016: Glencoe Guernsey steer Big Moo is perhaps Australia's biggest cow.

Tourists were attracted by the glow-in-the-dark poisonous mushrooms (fan-shaped Omphalotus nidiformis ) growing in Glencoe Forest.

Around Glencoe

Glencoe was first established in 1844 by Edward and Robert Leake as a sheep shearing station. The Glencoe Woolshed wash built in 1863

St Paul's Anglican Church, Glencoe, South East Region, South Australia, built in 1913

St Brendan's RC Church, Glencoe, South East Region, South Australia, foundation stone laid, 1910

Glencoe General Store, Glencoe, SA

Glencoe Woolshed, SA. The Glencoe Woolshed wash built in 1863

Glencoe West, SA. The Hall in classical style opened by George Riddoch in 1911. it is in a sorry state of disrepair. denisbin

Heritage house at Lake Edward Road, Glencoe, SA

Things To Do and Places To Go

Glencoe

Forest Trails

Glencoe Woolshed

Tolga, QLD: Was On The coach Road From Herberton to Port Douglas

Tolga is located on the Tablelands of North Queensland, a distance of around 28 km from Mareeba.

Surrounded by volcanic hills and rainforest-covered mountains, Tolga, is a village with charm and an interesting history.

The Tolga Scrub is one of the last remaining areas of Mabi rainforest on the Atherton Tableland.

Buluwai Rainforest People

According to Norman Tindale, The territory of the Buluwai rainforest people stretched about 200 square miles (520 km2) in the area east of Tolga and extending on north to Kuranda, and in a south-westerly direction to Tinaroo. The Barron River formed their coastal limit.

Tindale also recoded the Buluwai language in 1938. Here

In 1941 Norman Tindale and Joseph Birdsell declared that the Rainforest people of North Queensland were a discrete race of Aboriginal Australians, separate from all other mainland Aboriginal peoples: What they termed a Tasmanoid group due to what Tindale and Birdsell claimed was their short stature, and distinctive cultural, social, linguistic attributes and artefacts.

It is likely that the shorter stature was due to differences in nutrition in this group, with nuts, tubers and fruits being consumed more than proteins.

However, the Native Police Sub-Inspector, R.A. Johnstone, who was involved in Dalrymple’s 1873 expedition, stated that it was "a sure indication of good country when the aboriginals are numerous, as they depend entirely on Nature to provide them with the necessaries of life, and there in the valley of the Barron the jungle supplied them with fruits, roots and game in abundance". (Johnstone, 1903).

Tindale and Birdsell described the rainforest around the Atherton tablelands as an extremely inhospitable environment. They also wrote about the material culture of the inhabitants of the North Queensland rainforests, such as "large decorated fighting shields", and the "single-handed, flat-bladed and long, wooden, fighting sword", "beaten bark blankets" and the woven cane baskets, distinctive to the region.

From the book by Lumholtz, Carl, 1851-1922 1889, Far North QLD. Note distinctive shield

Aboriginal people of the North Queensland Rainforest, according to Tindale and Birdsell, had a patrilineal moiety system; partial mummification of the dead, carrying the skull and jaw-bones of the dead for long periods before burning, food cannibalism, large decorated fighting shields, the wearing of beaten bark blankets, fig-tree baskets sewn with lawyer cane, specialised food collection and preparation, such as leaching alkaloids from toxic nuts. (see here)

Group at Atherton Tableland, ca. 1895. Creator: Alfred Atkinson. Description: This is a group of Aboriginal people standing in front of a tree, with shield, nulla nulla, spears and woven basket. The men have scaring [cicatrices] on their chest. A lady is wearing a reed threaded necklace. State Library of Queensland

The Norwegian anthropologist and explorer Carl Lumholtz spent four years in North Queensland from 1880. He camped and hunted with Aboriginal people, many of whom had not encountered Europeans before. Based at first at Gracemere, he travelled in western Queensland, then to the Valley of Lagoons and lastly to the Herbert River area of northern Queensland. This book is available to read free here

Aboriginal people of Far North Queensland used a sharp stone or a clam-shell, to cut parallel lines across the breast and stomach. To keep the wounds from healing they put charcoal or ashes in them for a month or two until they swell up into rough ridges. Sometimes they gain the same result by letting ants walk about in the wounds. The shoulders are cut in the same manner, with lines running down three or four inches, making them look as if they had epaulets, Year: 1889 Internet Archive Book Images

Some Aboriginal men wore a belt-rope and some Aboriginal women wore a necklace of twisted reed or berries. Read more: Aboriginal use of Atherton rainforests

Group of men and boys at Atherton Tableland, ca. 1895. Creator: Alfred Atkinson. State Library of Queensland. Description: This photograph is of Aboriginal men and boys in their traditional body paint, with shields, boomerang, wooden swords and spears. cicatrices can be seen on some men. The elderly man on the left has a kangaroo bone nose piercing, a pearl shell pendant and headband. The young man laying in front of the group has a forehead band of Nautilus shell and is holding a nulla nulla [club/ sword]. The shield and body design are unique to this Atherton Tableland area.

Two Mia-Mias in a Queensland jungle. This type of "home" was favored by some of the northern tribes.

European Exploration

When George Dalrymple in 1865, explored the area inland from Cardwell, about 130 km from Tolga, he encountered Aboriginal people with large shields, "painted in blue, black, red, and yellow bands, in a quaint zigzag pattern, found on all shields in this part of the colony" and holding wooden swords, "about 5 feet long and 6 inches broad, and shaped with a curve, and point like an infantry sword".

George Augustus Frederick Elphinstone Dalrymple - Queensland parliamentarian

James Mulligan was the first European explorer and prospector to visit the tablelands in 1875 when he and his men travelled over "rich basaltic country" and near the present site of Tolga, came upon dark, impenetrable jungle.

1880: Tin

In 1877 John Atherton took up "Emerald End" to become the first settler in the Barron Valley.

The discovery of tin at Herberton in May, 1880, was speedily followed by the opening of a road in July, 1880, the work of Explorer Palmerston in cutting through three miles of scrub at Martintown (now Tolga), made it possible to take goods through to Herberton from Port Douglas.

Portrait of Christie Palmerston. It has been claimed that Palmerston was the natural son of Lord Palmerston. However, Palmerston was born in Melbourne to Casino Jerome Carandini, the 10th Marquis of Sarzano and Marie Burgess, an English-born opera singer. Palmerston was baptised Cristofero Palmerston Carandini.

Tolga was originally called Martin Town after sawmillers George and Robert Martin. But the name changed to 'Tolga' ('Red Mud' in Aboriginal Language), when the railway from Mareeba reached the town.

A Cobb and Co. staging post was established nearby at Rocky Creek, being five kilometres out of Atherton, on the track from Port Douglas to Herberton. This coach service, which ran from Port Douglas to Herberton, was one of the roughest in Australia, encountering gullies, creeks, and ranges rising to 3,000 feet.

Cobb & Co's mail coach on the Port Douglas - Herberton Road, Queensland, 1887, North Queensland register

David (Dave) Robson, a miner and prospecter, erected a flying fox spanning the Barron River which had a hauling rope of 900 feet, which was used to haul goods across the river close to Tolga. Another coach service was the Old Fossil Line of Coaches.

Martintown Provisional School opened on 10 October 1895.

1900s

The name was changed to Tolga in 1903 when the railway line was extended from Mareeba. The Tolga to Atherton section of the Cairns to Ravenshoe railway line was opened in 1903.

Tolga, a name thought to be derived from the Aboriginal word for either place where the scrub begins or red volcanic soil.

Early farm selectors often rented their allotments to Chinese ex-miners who grew maize, vegetables and small quantities of peanuts. With additional farms brought under soldier settlement after World War I, farmers turned to peanut growing because of low prices for maize and pig meat (fed on maize). The development of peanut growing and associated storage facilities were facilitated by the State government, and Tolga became the Atherton Tableland's peanut centre.

Morning Post (Cairns, Qld. : 1897 - 1907), Thursday 19 April 1906

In 1908 the old school reserve at Martintown was given to the Tinaroo Shire Council for use as a cemetery.

In 1909 the Government reclaimed land for a railway branch line from Tolga and by July parts of George Wedderburn’s farm was designated as the site for the railway station.

A pioneer's home in Tolga on the Atherton Tableland, QLD - 1909 (SLQLD)

The Tolga to Millaa Millaa railway was between 1911 and 1921 as a branch of the Cairns railway system.

The Mona Mona Aboriginal Mission, a former Seventh-day Adventist mission, was established for Aboriginal people of the region in 1913. The mission was almost self-sufficient, growing its own food, and cutting and milling timber until 1940.

WWI

Atherton Queen Carnival, Tolga Queen's Coach, QLD, Northern Herald (Cairns, Qld. : 1913 - 1939), Friday 17 December 1915

Group of Tolga Lengthsmen and the Slationmaster, QLD. Northern Herald (Cairns, Qld. : 1913 - 1939), Friday 19 March 1915

School break-up at Tolga, QLD, Northern Herald (Cairns, Qld. : 1913 - 1939), Friday 1 January 1915

Tolga Sawmill, QLD, Northern Herald (Cairns, Qld. : 1913 - 1939), Friday 2 April 1915

Governor and Party on Tonga-Atherton Road, QLD, Northern Herald (Cairns, Qld. : 1913 - 1939), Friday 23 July 1915

Pte J. L. Fox. Tolga, QLD. Northern Herald (Cairns, Qld. : 1913 - 1939), Friday 22 June 1917

PTE. J. J. GALVIN, Tolga, Qld. Killed. Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 24 July 1918

1, Tolga Township 2. Tolga Railway Stattion, QLD, Northern Herald (Cairns, Qld. : 1913 - 1939), Thursday 17 April 1919

Turning the Soil, Tolga District., QLD. Northern Herald (Cairns, Qld. : 1913 - 1939), Thursday 27 February 1919

Mona Mona Mission- Football Team, Northern Herald (Cairns, Qld. : 1913 - 1939), Thursday 20 February 1919

Mona Mona Mission Oaklands, The school and its scholars, Northern Herald (Cairns, Qld. : 1913 - 1939), Wednesday 13 August 1919

1920s

Peter English, a member of the pioneering English family, mentions an Aboriginal man named "Jacky Cow” who assisted in the dismantling of the Tolga sawmill and transporting it to Malanda in the early 1920s. (English, 1964)

Worker observing a lathe in action at Lawson's sawmill, Tolga, Queensland

Tree weighed over nine tons, and was on its way to the mill at Tolga, QLD, Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 3 February 1926

The fire which occurred at Tolga, QLD. The Commercial Hotel, Bell'B giocery and drapery store, Black's huirdressing establishment and billiard saloon, and M'Grath's bakery were destroyed This is all that was left of them. Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld. : 1866 - 1939), Thursday 23 February 1928

"Commercial Hotel, Tolga, Qld." by jemasmith is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Commercial Hotel, Tolga, Qld. Unknown date, 23 Main Street, Tolga. Called Tolga Hotel since 1973.

1930s

The maize silos at Tolga on the AthertonTableland, of the Government Tourist Bureau, QLD. Toowoomba Chronicle and Darling Downs Gazette (Qld. : 1922 - 1933), Monday 31 March 1930

Wally's Commercial Hotel, Tolga, Qld. Unknown date, love the undies on the line. 23 Main Street, Tolga. Jan Smit

1940s and WWII

Greek corn pickers at Tolga, Atherton Tablelands, Queensland, 1941. Tablelands Regional Library Service

The headquarters of the Australian Army in north Queensland transferred from Townsville to the Atherton Tableland in December 1942. The main administrative centre was built around the town of Atherton and nearby Tolga.

The Rocky Creek World War Two Hospital Complex military hospital on the Kennedy Highway, Tolga, was initially built in October 1942, with further construction occurring during World War II.

Patients from Papua New Guinea were transported from Cairns to Rocky Creek by the 4th Australian Hospital Ambulance Train, that ran three times a week, for treatment at Rocky Creek Hospitals. The hospital was in operation from October 1942 until September 1945.

TOLGA, QLD. 1943-12-17. A CHEERFUL GROUP OF AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S ARMY SERVICE (AWAS) PERSONNEL, READING THEIR MAIL AT THE 13TH AUSTRALIAN ORDNANCE DEPOT, HEADQUARTERS, 1ST AUSTRALIAN CORPS. AWM

TOLGA, QLD. 1943-11-04. ALTHOUGH ENGAGED FOR CLERICAL WORK THROUGH SHORTAGE OF STAFF THESE AWAS MEMBERS OF HEADQUARTERS, 13TH ADVANCED ORDNANCE DEPOT ARE ENGAGED IN PACKING GOODS FOR SHIPMENT TO OTHER UNITS. SHOWN ARE:- QF269549 PRIVATE (PTE) N. C. ROBERTS (LEFT); QF266876 PTE W. LEIS. AWM

TOLGA, QLD. 1943-08-16. EXTERIOR OF AN "IGLOO" STORAGE SHED OF THE 13TH AUSTRALIAN ADVANCE ORDNANCE DEPOT. AWM

Early in 1943, the largest Australian Army storage and repair centre on the Tableland was established west of Tolga. Known as 13 Australian Advanced Ordnance Depot (AAOD), the complex consisted of about 150 buildings, including 18 large igloo storage sheds, an attached vehicle park, salvage area and workshops. The centre of the site is located between present Griffin Road and Tate Road, Tolga.

TOLGA, QLD. 1943-11-04. AWAS MEMBERS, QX269575 DRIVER (DR) F. J. ARGENT (LEFT) AND QF270869 DR E. L. EDDY OF HEADQUARTERS, 13TH ADVANCED ORDNANCE DEPOT, WORKING UNDER A JEEP, WHICH THEY HAVE PUT UP ON A RAMP. AWM

Bones Knob Radar Station at Bowcock Road, Tolga, was built in 1943, stands at the summit of a timbered hill called Bones Knob, which is located about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) west of Tolga. The men of 220 Radar Station regularly travelled to Tolga, Atherton and Mareeba to the picture shows. A tennis court was constructed at the station during 1944. Bones Knob is thought to be named after a young Aboriginal man known as "Bones".

TOLGA, QLD. 1944-01-06. STAFF OF THE RAIL TRANSPORT OFFICER, 8TH INFANTRY BRIGADE, 3RD DIVISION WORKING AT THE GOODS SIDING. TOLGA, QLD. AWM

TOLGA, QLD. 1944-04-11. A MOBILE HEAVY CARRIAGE GUN, 155 MM. MARK 1.1941. AT FULL ELEVATION WITH THE BREECH OPEN AT THE 13TH ADVANCED ORDNANCE DEPOT. AWM

TOLGA, QLD. 1945-02-12. MAJOR C E J LEE, (2), AT 3 ADVANCED WORKSHOP, CORPS OF AUSTRALIAN ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, INDICATING POINTS OF INTEREST TO THE DUKE OF GLOUCESTER, GOVERNOR GENERAL OF AUSTRALIA, (1), CRAFTSMAN C H V GIBBS, (3), IS AT WORK IN THE FOREGROUND. AWM

Hotel Tolga, QLD, n.d. Boobook48

The Queensland Country Womens’ Association "Haven" hut in the grounds of Atherton Hospital was a former 7 Ordnance Depot recreation hut, relocated from Griffin Road, Tolga.

1950s

Cairns Post (Qld. : 1909 - 1954), Monday 11 June 1951

Construction of the nearby, Tinaroo Dam began in 1953 and was completed in 1958 at a cost of $12,666, 000. The village of Kulara disappeared under the waters of Lake Tinaroo in 1959.

A truck load of peanuts ready to be taken to the peanut factory in Tolga FNQ. QLD, 1957. Rae Allen

1960s

Joe Banchio with a single row corn picker - 1950/60 on the farm at Tolga, Queensland, Australia, Rae Allen

School Rugby League, 1967. The premiership winning under 4 stone six pound rugby league team from Tolga State School, QLD. Rae Allen

1990s

Tolga Bat Hospital which is the largest bat rehabilitation and bat ecotourism facility in Australia began in 1990.

Tolga Bat Hospital, QLD, 134 Carrington Road, Carrington or Atherton 4883

2000s

The Tinaroo Hydro power station was commissioned in May 2004.

The Tinaroo Hydro Power Station, not far from Tolga, QLD, is an electricity power station located at the spillway of Lake Tinaroo. It has been designed to take advantage of water being released for irrigation, and water released when the dam is full

Around Tolga

The Tolga Hotel, QLD, was built in 1885 and was originally called the Commercial Hotel

65 Main Street, Tolga, QLD

Tolga branch CWA was established in 1928, QLD

Located on the southern side of the Kennedy Highway, almost five kilometres north of Tolga, QLD, the former WWII site includes a theatre (entertainment) igloo and other buildings