Columboola 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

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 , the locality of Columboola had a population of 72 people.

History

The town takes its name from Columboola Creek, an Aboriginal word, meaning ''plenty of white cockatoos''. Columboola State School, Queensland, circa 1919

Columboola State School, Queensland, circa 1919

Columboola Provisional School opened on 20 July 1896 with 20 students. On 1 January 1909 it became Columboola State School. From 1942 through

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the school was closed so it could be used in connection with the ammunition storage facility on Cameby Downs. The school building was relocated to Miles State School. On 23 October 1954 Columboola State School reopened with a new building. It closed permanently on 28 April 1978. The school was at 25 Boort Koi Road (). Since 1991, the school site has been used by the Columboola Environmental Education Centre. In the early 1920s, the area had an active Scottish association, the Columboola and District Caledonian Society, which held their first highland gathering on New Year's Day 1923. They even had sufficient people to form a

pipe band A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of Bagpipes, pipers and drummers. The term pipes and drums, used by military pipe bands is also common. The most common form of pipe band consists of a section of pipers playing the Great Highland b ...

. In the , the locality of Columboola had a population of 72 people.

Economy

Columboola railway station is the main loading point for coal trains from the

Cameby Downs coal mine The Cameby Downs Coal Mine is a coal mine located 16 km south-east of Miles on the Darling Downs in Queensland. The mine has coal reserves amounting to 688 million tonnes of thermal coal, one of the largest coal reserves in Asia and th ...

that utilise the West Moreton rail corridor of the

Main Line railway The Main Line is a railway line in South East Queensland, Australia. It was opened in a series of sections between 1865 and 1867. It commences at Roma St Station in Brisbane and extends west 161 km to Toowoomba. It is the first narrow gau ...

Education

There are no schools in Columboola, save for the Columboola Environmental Education Centre. The closest schools are in

Miles The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...

24.2 kilometres (15 mi) to the west and

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 ...

44.2 kilometres (27.4 mi) to the east.

History

Economy

Education

References

Further reading