El Arish 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

Cassowary Coast Region The Cassowary Coast Region is a local government area in the Far North Queensland region of Queensland, Australia, south of Cairns and centred on the towns of Innisfail, Cardwell and Tully. It was created in 2008 from a merger of the Shire ...

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 El Arish had a population of 344 people.

Geography

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 Na ...

enters the locality from the south (

Maadi Maadi ( ar, المعادي / transliterated: ) is a leafy suburban district south of Cairo, Egypt, on the east bank of the Nile about upriver from downtown Cairo. The Nile at Maadi is parallelled by the Corniche, a waterfront promenade a ...

/ Friday Pocket) and passes immediately east of the town and exits the locality to the north-east ( Daveson). The North Coast railway line enters the locality from the south-west (Maadi), passes immediately to the west of the town and exits the locality to the north (

Jaffa Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...

/ Daveson). The town is served by the El Arish railway station () but its railway station building has now been repurposed as a museum. The now-abandoned Quatia railway station () served the north of the locality and is the source of the name of the Quatia neighbourhood ().

History

StateLibQld 1 202011 Soldiers settlement home at El Arish

The town was named in 1921 after the city of Arish in Egypt where the

Australian Light Horse Australian Light Horse were mounted troops with characteristics of both cavalry and mounted infantry, who served in the Second Boer War and World War I. During the inter-war years, a number of regiments were raised as part of Australia's part-ti ...

saw action in December 1916 and which was later developed as a major base area with an allied hospital. The name ''Quatia'' was assigned by the

Queensland Railways Department Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...

on 31 August 1922 and was the suggestion of the soldier settlers and refers to a city in Egypt where the Australian Imperial Force engaged in the

Battle of Katia The Battle of Katia, also known as the Affair of Qatia by the British, was an engagement fought east of the Suez Canal and north of El Ferdan Station, in the vicinity of Katia and Oghratina, on 23 April 1916 during the Defence of the Suez ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The town was founded in 1921 as a

soldier settlement Soldier settlement was the settlement of land throughout parts of Australia by returning discharged soldiers under soldier settlement schemes administered by state governments after World War I and World War II. The post-World War II settlemen ...

area. Many of the streets were named after high-ranking officers, including: * Chauvel Street after General

Harry Chauvel General Sir Henry George Chauvel, (16 April 1865 – 4 March 1945) was a senior officer of the Australian Imperial Force who fought at Gallipoli and during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of the First World W ...

* Glasgow Street after Major General

Thomas William Glasgow Major General Sir Thomas William Glasgow (6 June 1876 – 4 July 1955) was a senior Australian Army officer and politician. Glasgow rose to prominence during the First World War as a brigade and later divisional commander on the Western Front ...

* Monash Street after General

John Monash General Sir John Monash, (; 27 June 1865 – 8 October 1931) was an Australian civil engineer and military commander of the First World War. He commanded the 13th Infantry Brigade before the war and then, shortly after its outbreak, became co ...

* Royston Street after Brigadier General

John Royston Brigadier General John Robinson Royston, (29 April 1860 – 25 April 1942) was a South African-born military officer who commanded a brigade of Australian Light Horse during the First World War. A farmer and citizen soldier, during the late 18 ...

* Ryrie Street after Major General

Granville Ryrie Major General Sir Granville de Laune Ryrie, (1 July 1865 – 2 October 1937) was an Australian soldier, politician, and diplomat. He served in the Boer War and the First World War, in the latter commanding the 2nd Light Horse Brigade (1914– ...

And some were named after general veterans such as: * Francis Martin Street after Francis Paxton Martin who set up some soldier settlements in El Arish in the 1920s. The El Arish War Memorial is located on the south-west corner of Monash and Ryrie Streets (). It was unveiled in September 1947. The Maria Creek State School opened on 13 May 1922; it was renamed El Arish State School in 1925. El Arish Post Office opened by 1926 (a

receiving 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 ...

had been open from 1921). El Arish Tavern was established in 1927. The RSL Memorial Hall opened in October 1930. It was built by local people using timber donated by the Myers sawmill. The area was later settled by

Italian Australian Italian Australians ( it, Italiani Australiani) are Australians with Italian ancestry. Italian Australians constitute the sixth largest ancestry group in Australia, and one of the largest groups in the global Italian diaspora. At the 2021 c ...

s who worked in the

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalks t ...

fields. At the El Arish had a population of 232. The town was hit by Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi in February 2011. In the El Arish had a population of 442 people. In the the locality of El Arish had a population of 344 people.

Heritage listings

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 ...

places in El Arish include: * the former El Arish railway station, now the El Arish History Station, which houses a small soldier settlement and local history museum collection. A social morning tea is held in the museum almost every Friday of the year at 9am, and visitors are welcome. A donation of $2 is requested from attendees. * the El Arish Tavern. * the El Arish RSL Memorial Hall. The hall has been maintained by local volunteers since 1930.

Economy

Today, the area is home to a large sugar cane industry and banana plantations.

Education

El Arish State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 28 Chauvel Street (). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 37 students with 3 teachers and 6 non-teaching staff (3 full-time equivalent). There is no secondary school in El Arish. The nearest secondary school is

Tully State High School Tully is a town and locality in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It is adjacent to the Bruce Highway, approximately south of Cairns by road and north of Townsville. At the , the population was 2,390. Tully is perhaps best kno ...

in Tully to the south-west.

Facilities

El Arish Police Station is at 24 Ryrie Street (corner Monash Street, ). El Arish Fire Station is at 5-7 Ryrie Street (). In 2020 the old buildings were replaced with a new fire station. El Arish Post Office is at 46 Chauvel Street ().

Amenities

The El Arish Country Golf Club has a 9-hole course and is located on Golf Course Road (). Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church is at 32 Glasgow Street (). It is within the Silkwood Parish of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns The Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns is a diocese of the Catholic Church located in the state of Queensland, Australia. It is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Brisbane. The diocese was erected as a vicariate apostolic in 1877 and was ...

. El Arish RSL Memorial Hall is at 17 Royston Street (). It can seat 250 people and has a dance floor, stage, kitchen and coldroom.

Attractions

The former El Arish railway station building has been reoriented on its block in order to face Chauvel Street (). It is used as a local history museum, and is currently known as the El Arish Diggers Museum (formerly the El Arish History Station).

References

External links

* *
El Arish soldier settlement digital story 2016

State Library of Queensland The State Library of Queensland is the main reference and research library provided to the people of the State of Queensland, Australia, by the state government. Its legislative basis is provided by the Queensland Libraries Act 1988. It contai ...

{{authority control Towns in Queensland Populated places in Far North Queensland Queensland soldier settlements Cassowary Coast Region Cassowary Coast Local Heritage Places 1921 establishments in Australia Localities in Queensland