Bluff is a rural town and locality in the

Central Highlands Region Central Highlands Region is a local government area in Queensland, Australia. History '' Wadja'' (also known as ''Wadjigu'', ''Wadya'', ''Wadjainngo'', ''Mandalgu'', and ''Wadjigun)'' is an Australian Aboriginal language in Central Queensla ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. In the , Bluff had a population of 373 people.

Geography

The town is located on the Capricorn Highway in

Central Queensland Central Queensland is an ambiguous geographical division of Queensland ( a state in Australia) that centres on the eastern coast, around the Tropic of Capricorn. Its major regional centre is Rockhampton. The region extends from the Capricorn Coa ...

, north west of the state capital,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. Bluff's location between some of Queensland's largest

coal mines Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

and the port of

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-con ...

has led to it becoming a major interchange station for large coal trains, some up to two kilometres long.

History

Based on artefacts found on the nearby Blackdown Tableland National Park,

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

people lived in this area for thousands of years. The first European settlement occurred in the district in the 1860s as early pastoralists moved to the area. The district was originally called Duckworth or Duckworth Creek, but in 1877 the name was changed to Bluff to match the name of the railway station. The Bluff name was derived from a local hill known as Arthur's Bluff. Duckworth Post Office opened by September 1906 (a receiving office had been open from late 1905) and was renamed Bluff in 1907. Duckworth Provisional School was established in January 1907 and opened in June 1907. However, the local people disliked the name Duckworth and a few months later, the name was changed to Bluff or Bluff Colliery Provisional School. On 1 January 1909, it became Bluff State School. At the 2011 census, Bluff had a population of 370. In the , Bluff had a population of 373 people. In 2017, a suspicious fire completely destroyed the Bluff Family Store, the town's local general store. Without anywhere to buy groceries, local Bluff residents needed to travel to Blackwater for supplies following the fire. However, three years after the fire, an independent business called the Bluff Servo opened in the town to continue supplying the community with groceries, toiletries and fuel. Bluff and the surrounding districts are served by the Bluff Town and Rural Fire Brigade which has had active members on its books since 1975. A small shed in Church Street was built to house the brigade in 1980. After obtaining funding to build a larger facility in 2016, a new fire shed was built in Church Street which was officially opened in May 2018.

Education

Bluff State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at Main Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 15 students with 2 teachers and 4 non-teaching staff (2 full-time equivalent).

Notable residents

* Casey Conway,

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

player for

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...

References

External links

* * {{authority control Towns in Queensland Central Highlands Region Localities in Queensland