Biggenden is a rural town and

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

in the

North Burnett Region The North Burnett Region is a local government area in Queensland, Australia in the northern catchment of the Burnett River. Established in 2008, it was preceded by several previous local government areas with histories extending back to the ear ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. In the , the locality of Biggenden had a population of 788 people.

Geography

Biggenden is on the

Isis Highway The Isis Highway is a state highway in southern Queensland, Australia. The highway is relatively short, and runs for in a north-east / south-west direction between Bundaberg North and the Burnett Highway at Ban Ban Springs. The Isis Highway ...

north-west of the state capital

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, and west of Maryborough.

History

StateLibQld 2 77107 Biggenden Bismuth Mine

The name is derived from the

Kabi Kabi or KABI may refer to: Places *Kabi Longstok, town in North Sikkim district, Sikkim, India *Kabi, Sikkim, village in North Sikkim district, Sikkim, India * Kabi River (''Kafu River''), river in Uganda People *Boris Kabi (born 1984), Ivorian fo ...

word ''bigindhan'' meaning a ''place of stringybark''. Biggenden was founded in 1889 as a service centre to the short-lived goldrush towns of

Paradise In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...

and Shamrock; and for coach passengers travelling west from Maryborough. The township, including the intriguingly named ''Live And Let Live Inn'', moved to a new location alongside the railway station when the rail line arrived in 1891. Biggenden Post Office opened on 16 May 1891. Biggenden Provisional school opened on 9 May 1892 becoming Biggenden State School in 1900. In January 1953, the school experimented with offering high school subjects by correspondence. In 1958, a secondary school section was added. The Biggenden Methodist Church opened on Monday 23 May 1910. In 1939, a church hall was established, using the Methodist Church building established in Woowoonga in 1919, which had formerly been the Methodist church in Mount Perry, built in 1872. In 1977 through the amalgamation that created the

Uniting Church in Australia The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) is a united church in Australia. The church was founded on 22 June 1977 when most Wiktionary:congregation, congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church o ...

, it became Biggenden Uniting Church. In June 1926, a meeting of local women decided to establish a branch of the

Queensland Country Women's Association The Queensland Country Women's Association (QCWA) is the Queensland chapter of the Country Women's Association in Australia. The association seeks to serve the interests of women and children in rural areas in Australia through a network of loca ...

. In October 1928, the Biggenden branch's building was officially opened by J.C. Robertson, chairman of the

Degilbo Shire Council The Shire of Biggenden was a Local government in Australia, local government area located in the northern catchment of the Burnett River, Queensland, Australia, south-southwest of the regional city of Bundaberg, Queensland, Bundaberg. The shire ...

. The Mt Biggenden mine provided employment to the local community for over a hundred years, before its magnetite iron ore operation closed in 1999.

Demographics

In the , Biggenden had a population of 682 people. In the , the locality of Biggenden had a population of 845 people. In the , the locality of Biggenden had a population of 788 people.

Economy

Primary production is the most significant industry in the shire with

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). Beef can be prepared in various ways; Cut of beef, cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often Ground beef, grou ...

and

dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

being predominant. Other agricultural pursuits include grain crops,

pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...

geries,

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), goober pea, pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics by small and large ...

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...

and

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

. The area is also rich in minerals. Biggenden Mine is located eight kilometres out of town off Ban Ban Springs Road.

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

bismuth Bismuth is a chemical element; it has symbol Bi and atomic number 83. It is a post-transition metal and one of the pnictogens, with chemical properties resembling its lighter group 15 siblings arsenic and antimony. Elemental bismuth occurs nat ...

and more recently

magnetite Magnetite is a mineral and one of the main iron ores, with the chemical formula . It is one of the iron oxide, oxides of iron, and is ferrimagnetism, ferrimagnetic; it is attracted to a magnet and can be magnetization, magnetized to become a ...

have been extracted from the mine. The township is also close to Coalstoun Lakes National Park and

Mount Walsh National Park Mount Walsh is a national park in Queensland, Australia, northwest of Brisbane. A prominent landmark in the Biggenden region is the granite bluff area of Mount Walsh which rises to above sea level in the northern part of park. The summit has ...

Paradise Dam

In November 2005, the Queensland Government opened the Paradise Dam, about 30 minutes north-west of Biggenden, on the

Burnett River The Burnett River is a river in the Wide Bay–Burnett and Central Queensland regions of Queensland, Australia. Course and features The Burnett River rises in the Burnett Range, part of the Great Dividing Range, close to Mount Gaeta and east ...

. The 300,000ML dam, which submerges the former

gold mining Gold mining is the extraction of gold by mining. Historically, mining gold from Alluvium, alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. The expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface has led to mor ...

town of the same name, is touted as securing the future of the nearby

Bundaberg Bundaberg () is the major regional city in the Wide Bay-Burnett region of the state of Queensland, Australia. It is the List of cities in Australia by population, ninth largest city in the state. The Bundaberg central business district is situa ...

and Childers region, although no water will be available for residents of the Biggenden area. However, more than 400 jobs were created during its construction and the dam site is proving to be one of the shire's largest tourist attraction. Artefacts and buildings removed from Paradise before the dam wall was built are now on display by the Biggenden Historical Society, which operates from the relocated Paradise courthouse.

Education

Biggenden State School is a government primary and secondary (Prep-10) school for boys and girls at 3-9 Frederick Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 143 students with 18 teachers (16 full-time equivalent) and 12 non-teaching staff (8 full-time equivalent). The nearest government secondary schools providing education to Year 12 are Burnett State College in

Gayndah Gayndah () is a town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the North Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. It is the administrative centre for the North Burnett Region. In the , the locality of Gayndah had a population of 1,949 p ...

to the west and

Isis District State High School Isis District State High School is a public, co-educational, high school, located in the town of Childers, in Queensland, Australia. It is administered by the Department of Education, with an enrolment of 417 students and a teaching staff of 42 ...

in Childers to the north-east.

Heritage listings

Biggenden has a number of heritage-listed sites: * former Biggenden Courthouse (now Biggenden Museum), 8 Edward Street * former Biggenden Butter Factory, 11 Edward Street & Airstrip Road * Biggenden QCWA Building, 32 Edward Street

Amenities

Biggenden has a public library, swimming pool, bowling and golf club, memorial hall and showground. The North Burnett Regional Council operates the Biggenden Library, located at 47 Edward Street, Biggenden. The Biggenden branch of the

meets at the CWA Hall at 32 Edward Street. Biggenden Uniting Church is at 32 George Street ().

References

External links

University of Queensland: Queensland Places: Biggenden and Biggenden ShireA history of some mines of the Biggenden District
- State Library of Queensland {{authority control Towns in Queensland North Burnett Region 1889 establishments in Australia Populated places established in 1889 Localities in Queensland