Chelona is a rural

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

Mackay Region The Mackay Region is a local government area located in North Queensland, Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by three previous local government areas with modern histories extending back as far as 1869. It has an estimat ...

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 , Chelona had a population of 120 people.

Geography

The locality is bounded to the south by Sandy Creek. The

Bruce Highway The Bruce Highway is a major highway in Queensland, Australia. Commencing in the state capital, Brisbane, it passes through areas close to the eastern coast on its way to Cairns in Far North Queensland. The route is part of the Australian Natio ...

enters the locality from the south ( Balberra) and exits to the north (

Rosella Rosellas are in a genus that consists of six species and nineteen subspecies. These colourful parrots from Australia are in the genus ''Platycercus''. ''Platycercus'' means "broad-tailed" or "flat-tailed", reflecting a feature common to the ...

). The North Coast railway line also enters the locality from the south and exits to the north, further west than the highway. There is also a network of

cane tramways The rail network in Queensland, Australia, was the first in the world to adopt narrow gauge for a main line. In 2013, it claimed to be the second largest narrow gauge network in the world. The network consists of the following lines: *the N ...

that transports harvested

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

to the sugar mills. The predominant land use is sugarcane farming. Most of the residential development is along the Bruce Highway.

History

The now-abandoned Chelona railway station () on the North Coast railway line was named on 30 October 1913 after Mount Chelona (), which was named by surveyor

William Charles Borlase Wilson William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...

. The locality takes its name from the railway station. Chelona State School opened on 23 January 1893. A postal receiving office opened at Chelona in August 1902. It became a post office on 1 July 1927 and closed on 2 March 1964.

Demographics

In the , Chelona had a population of 100 people. In the , Chelona had a population of 120 people.

Education

Chelona State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 13 Chelona School Access Road (). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 107 students with 8 teachers (6 full-time equivalent) and 7 non-teaching staff (4 full-time equivalent). There is no secondary school in Chelona. The nearest government secondary school is

Mackay State High School Mackay State High School is a government secondary school at 123 Milton Street, South Mackay, Mackay, Mackay Region, Queensland, Australia. The school offers education to students from grades 7 to 12 and provides a range of academic programs ...

Mackay Mackay may refer to: *Clan Mackay, the Scottish clan from which the surname "MacKay" derives Mackay may also refer to: Places Australia * Mackay Region, a local government area ** Mackay, Queensland, a city in the above region *** Mackay Airport ...

to the north.

Amenities

The

Mackay Regional Council The Mackay Region is a local government area located in North Queensland, Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by three previous local government areas with modern histories extending back as far as 1869. It has an estimat ...

operates a mobile library service on a fortnightly schedule at Dunrock Road near the school.

References

{{Mackay Region Mackay Region Localities in Queensland