Dotswood 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

Charters Towers Region The Charters Towers Region is a local government area in North Queensland, Australia southwest of, and inland from the city of Townsville, based in Charters Towers. Established in 2008, it was preceded by two previous local government areas whic ...

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 Dotswood had a population of 101 people.

Geography

The neighbourhood of Macrossan is located in the west of the locality beside the bridge over the

Burdekin River The Burdekin River is a river located in North and Far North Queensland, Australia. The river rises on the northern slopes of Boulder Mountain at Valley of Lagoons, part of the western slope of the Seaview Range, and flows into the Coral Sea a ...

. The Great Northern Railway passes through the locality. There are a number of abandoned railway stations on that line within the locality: * Macrossan railway station () *Exley railway station () * Eneby railway station () Another abandoned station is Keelbottom railway station () on the now-closed

Greenvale railway line Greenvale railway line is in northern Queensland, Australia. It carries nickel ore from a mine in Greenvale to the Queensland Nickel's refinery in Yabulu, approximately north of Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of ...

. The

Hervey Range Developmental Road Hervey Range Developmental Road (alternate spellings: "Herveys", "Hervey's") is a continuous road route in the Townsville and Charters Towers local government areas of Queensland, Australia. It is designated as State Route 72. It is a state-c ...

runs through from east to west.

History

In 1863 Phillip Somer and Matthew Hervey were granted the license to occupy the and of the Keelbottom and Watershed

Pastoral A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...

Runs respectively, by the

Crown Lands Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...

Office in Brisbane. By late 1865 these men had transferred their holdings of the Emysland, Dotswood, Nursiedob, Keelbottom, Watershed, and Tala (or Tula).runs to the Bank of New South Wales. These properties lay on one or both sides of Keelbottom Creek. Eventually Dotswood Station comprised the runs of Arthurs Peak, Back Plains, Hardwick, Pall Mall, Poon Boon, Redyke (or Red Dyke), Smiths Brook and Yallock Vale, as well as those already mentioned. The neighbourhood of Macrossan takes its name from the Macrossan railway station, which in turn is named after the politician

John Murtagh Macrossan John Murtagh Macrossan (1832 – 30 March 1891) was an Australian politician of the late 19th century in the parliament of Queensland. Early and parliamentary life Macrossan was born in Donegal, Ireland. He moved to the colony of Victoria a ...

. This locality was within the Star River Mineral Field, which was discovered in 1865. The following year John Macrossan passed through the area. The Ravenswood Gold Field, discovered in 1868, eventually extended north into the Star River Mineral Field. From 1881 silver-lead deposits in the Ravenswood mining district, the most promising at Argentine, were being mined in what was called a silver mania. However this ended suddenly in 1883, after the failure of a locally capitalized smelting works and low returns. In late 1872 on Keelbottom Creek, Kennedy district were reserved for the town reserve of Boolangalla. In the town of Argentine, 67 town lots, at £16 per acre, and 3 mineral selections, were offered for sale by the Crown Lands Office in October 1882. By the next year the town consisted of several

public houses A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, one butcher's shop, a baker's shop, three stores and two gardens. In December 1888 the name of the Star River

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 ...

was changed to Argentine Post Office. In the Dotswood had a population of 101 people.

Heritage listings

Dotswood 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: * Flinders Highway, Macrossan: Macrossan Stores Depot Group * Great Northern railway:

Burdekin River Rail Bridge Burdekin River Rail Bridge is a heritage-listed former railway bridge on the Great Northern railway over the Burdekin River at Dotswood, Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Henry Charles Stanley and built from ...

Attractions

Surgeons Lookout is a tourist attraction ().

Amenities

Macrossan Park is a free campground overlooking the Burdekin River, situated between the rail and road bridges .

Industry

Most of this location is part of the Department of Defence's Townsville Field Training Area.

References

{{Charters Towers Region Charters Towers Region Localities in Queensland