Banana is a rural town and

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

Shire of Banana The Shire of Banana is a local government area located in the Capricorn region of Queensland, Australia, inland from the regional city of Gladstone. The shire was named after the first township in the region (Banana), which in turn was named ...

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 , the locality of Banana had a population of 356 people.

Geography

Banana is located at the intersection of the Dawson and

Leichhardt Leichhardt may refer to: * Division of Leichhardt, electoral District for the Australian House of Representatives * Leichhardt Highway, a highway of Queensland, Australia * Leichhardt Way, an Australian road route * Leichhardt, New South Wales, inn ...

highways, west of the shire's administrative centre,

Biloela Biloela ( ) is a rural town and locality in Shire of Banana, Central Queensland, Australia. It is situated inland from the port city of Gladstone at the junction of the Burnett and Dawson highways. Biloela is the administrative centre of Ban ...

History

'' Gangalu (Gangulu, Kangulu, Kanolu, Kaangooloo, Khangulu)'' is an

Australian Aboriginal language The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...

spoken on Gangula country. The Gangula language region includes the towns of Clermont and

Springsure Springsure is a town and a Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Central Highlands Region, Queensland, Australia. It is south of Emerald, Queensland, Emerald on the Gregory Highway. It is the southern terminus of the Gregory Highwa ...

extending south towards the Dawson River. In 1853, James, Norman and Charles Leith-Hay established the Rannes pastoral lease and Banana was an outstation of this property. Banana became its own squatting leasehold

sheep station A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...

property in 1855 with the Leith-Hays and Thomas Holt holding the licence. In 1855 a group of Aboriginal people attacked Banana Station wounding five people and stealing 3,000 sheep. In April 1858, a number of Aboriginal people in an unprovoked attack, murdered 4 men at Camboon and had stolen a carbine, gun powder and balls, and some axes. They then proceeded to attack the sheep station at Banana resulted in three shepherds being wounded. While the shepherds were defending themselves, an Aboriginal man was killed.

Native Police Australian native police units, consisting of Aboriginal troopers under the command (usually) of at least one white officer, existed in various forms in all Australian mainland colonies during the nineteenth and, in some cases, into the twentie ...

troopers were deployed to patrol the area and a 1859 map shows a police station marked on the planned site for Banana. The name Banana derives from an old

dun A dun is an ancient or medieval fort. In Ireland and Britain it is mainly a kind of hillfort and also a kind of Atlantic roundhouse. Etymology The term comes from Irish ''dún'' or Scottish Gaelic ''dùn'' (meaning "fort"), and is cognat ...

-coloured working

bullock Bullock may refer to: Animals * Bullock (in British English), a castrated male bovine animal of any age * Bullock (in North America), a young bull (an uncastrated male bovine animal) * Bullock (in Australia, India and New Zealand), an ox, an adu ...

, called ''Banana'', used by local stockmen to help them when herding some of the wilder cattle into the yards.From series of articles published under the title ''Queensland place names and obelisks'' by Sydney May (formerly Honorary Secretary of the Queensland Place Names Committee) in ''Local Government'', June 1957 - November 1964 The

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

at Banana was established on 1 September 1861, and the first township allotments were offered for sale in that same year. In 1887, there was a minor gold rush at Banana, increasing the population by a few hundred people. Banana Provisional School opened on 18 September 1871 and was upgraded to Banana State School on 16 February 1874. The school closed in 1935, but reopened on 25 January 1960. In 1880, the local government area Banana Division (later the

) was established with its headquarters in Banana (taking its name from the town). However, in 1930 the shire headquarters became Rannes and the shire offices were physically relocated from Banana to Rannes. Since 1946, the shire has its headquarters in

. The mobile library service commenced in 2004. At the , Banana had a population of 627. In the , Banana had a population of 377 people. In the , the locality of Banana had a population of 356 people.

Economy

The

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantity ...

industry is still a mainstay of the town and area, along with coal and agriculture.

Education

Banana State School is a government primary (P-6) school at 36 Bramston Street (). In 2012, there were 37 students enrolled with 3 teachers (2.5 full-time equivalent). There are no secondary schools in Banana; the nearest government secondary schoosl are Moura State High School in neighbouting Moura to the west and Biloela State High School in

to the east.

Amenities

Banana has a

Uniting Church The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Unio ...

at 39 Bowen Street (

Leichhardt Highway The Leichhardt Highway is a major transport route in Queensland, Australia. It is a continuation northward from Goondiwindi of the Newell Highway, via a section of the Cunningham Highway. It runs northward from Goondiwindi for more than 600 ki ...

) at the corner with North Street ().

Banana Shire Council The Shire of Banana is a local government area located in the Capricorn region of Queensland, Australia, inland from the regional city of Gladstone. The shire was named after the first township in the region (Banana), which in turn was named f ...

operate a fortnightly mobile library service to Banana and the school. The Banana 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 ...

meets at 123 Bramston Street.

References

External links

* {{authority control Towns in Queensland Shire of Banana Localities in Queensland