Fletcher 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

Southern Downs Region The Southern Downs Region is a local government area in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia, along the state's boundary with New South Wales. It was created in 2008 from a merger of the Shire of Warwick and the Shire of Stanthorpe. ...

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 , Fletcher had a population of 92 people.

Geography

The Severn River forms the western boundary of the locality. The terrain is somewhat mountainous with the land in the valleys between being used for farming. A small area in the east of the locality is part of the

Girraween National Park Girraween National Park is an area of the Granite Belt in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia reserved as a national park. Girraween is known for its spectacular flowers, dramatic landscapes and unique wildlife. Bushwalking and rock ...

. Apart from that the predominant land use is

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to roam around and consume wild vegetations in order to convert the otherwise indigestible (by human gut) cellulose within grass and other ...

on native vegetation and crop growing. The

New England Highway New England Highway is an long highway in Australia running from Yarraman, north of Toowoomba, Queensland at its northern end to Hexham at Newcastle, New South Wales at its southern end. It is part of Australia's National Highway system, an ...

and South Western railway line pass from north ( Glen Aplin) to south (

Ballandean Ballandean is a rural town and locality in the Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Ballandean had a population of 338 people. Ballandean is in the Granite Belt Region of the Southern Downs. It is on the Quee ...

) through the locality.

History

In 1872 Thomas Henry Fletcher established the Britannia Hotel in present-day Ballandean. He planted a small orchard beside his hotel. While he was successful at fruit growing, most of the interest in the district was in mining. The locality of Fletcher is presume to be named after the Fletcher railway station (), which was named 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 ...

in 1887, after orchardist Thomas Henry Fletcher, who pioneered the growing of fruit in the

Granite Belt The Granite Belt is an area of the Great Dividing Range in the Darling Downs region of Queensland and the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. The Granite Belt is centred on the town of Stanthorpe. The cool, high country of the gra ...

area. In the , Fletcher had a population of 92 people.

Education

There are no schools in the locality. The nearest primary schools are Glen Aplin State School in neighbouring Glen Aplin to the north and Ballandean State School in neighbouring

to the south. The nearest secondary school is Stanthorpe State High School in

Stanthorpe Stanthorpe is a rural town and locality in the Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Stanthorpe had a population of 5,406 people. The area surrounding the town is known as the Granite Belt. Geography Stanthorpe lies on the New ...

to the north-west.

References

{{Southern Downs Region Southern Downs Region Localities in Queensland