Boonarga is a rural

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

in the

Western Downs Region Western Downs Region is a local government area in Queensland, Australia. The Western Downs Regional Council manages an area of , which is slightly smaller than Switzerland, although with a population of 34,467 in June 2018, it is over 228 ti ...

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 , Boonarga had a population of 36 people.

Geography

The

Warrego Highway The Warrego Highway is located in southern Queensland, Australia. It connects coastal centres to the south western areas of the state, and is approximately 715 km in length. It takes its name from the Warrego River, which is the endpoint ...

and Western railway line enter the locality from the south-east (

Brigalow ''Acacia harpophylla'', commonly known as brigalow, brigalow spearwood or orkor, is an endemic tree of Australia. The Aboriginal Australian group the Gamilaraay peoples know the tree as Barranbaa or Burrii. It is found in central and coast ...

) and exit to the north-west (

Chinchilla Chinchillas are either of two species (''Chinchilla chinchilla'' and ''Chinchilla lanigera'') of crepuscular rodents of the parvorder Caviomorpha. They are slightly larger and more robust than ground squirrels, and are native to the Andes mount ...

). Boonarga railway station is an abandoned station on the Western railway line ().

History

Hill Top Provisional School opened on 20 March 1893. On 1 January 1909, it became Hill Top State School. From 1914 to 1915 it operated as a half-time school with Mulga State School (meaning the two schools shared a single teacher). In 1936, it was renamed Boonarga State School. It closed in June 1954. It was located on the Warrego Highway (). The Cactoblastis Memorial Hall was built to celebrate the eradiction of the prickly pear in the Boonarga area through the introduction of the cactoblastis moth. Prickly pear had spread so extensively through the area that it was often not possible to walk or ride through it. The hall was built by local builder Mr Jack Schloss at a cost of and was officially opened in February 1936 by

Godfrey Morgan ''Godfrey Morgan: A Californian Mystery'' (french: L'École des Robinsons, literally ''The School for Robinsons''), also published as ''School for Crusoes'', is an 1882 adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne. The novel tells of a wealthy y ...

, Member of the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly ...

. A gala ball was held to mark the occasion. In the , Boonarga had a population of 36 people.

Heritage listings

Boonarga has a number of

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many ...

sites, including: *

Cactoblastis Memorial Hall Cactoblastis Memorial Hall is a heritage-listed memorial at Warrego Highway, Boonarga, Western Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1936 by Jack Schloss. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 September 1993. ...

Education

There are no schools in Boonarga. The nearest government primary schools are Brigalow State School in neighbouring

to the south-east and Chinchilla State School in neighbouring

to the north-west. The nearest government secondary school is Chinchilla State High School in Chinchilla.

Geography

History

Heritage listings

Education

Amenities

References

External links