Mutarnee is a town and a

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

City of Townsville The City of Townsville is a local government area (LGA) located in North Queensland, Australia. It encompasses the city of Townsville, together with the surrounding rural areas, to the south are the communities of Alligator Creek, Woodstock an ...

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 , establishe ...

, Australia. In the , Mutarnee had a population of 116 people.

Geography

Mutarnee is approximately 67 kilometres north-west of

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

, Australia and 44 kilometres south-east of Ingham. It is situated on the banks of Crystal Creek and is near the rainforest village of Paluma.

History

Mutarnee takes its name from its railway station, which in turn was named on 23 December 1920 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 ...

using an Aboriginal word indicating food, as suggested by

Archibald Meston Archibald Meston (26 March 1851 – 11 March 1924) was an Australian politician, civil servant, journalist, naturalist and explorer. Personal life Archibald Meston was born at Towie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the son of Alexander Meston. Mes ...

. Ollera Provisional School opened in 1905 and closed in 1906. Ollera Creek State School opened on 17 May 1920. In 1923 it was renamed Mutarnee State School.

Facilities

Facilities at Mutarnee include a state primary school, a recreational waterhole, and a camping area at nearby Crystal Creek. The popular cafe and ice-creamery, Frosty Mango, is also located in Mutarnee, north of the Crystal Creek bridge.

Education

Mutarnee State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at School Road (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 19 students with 3 teachers (1 full-time equivalent) and 3 non-teaching staff (1 full-time equivalent).

References

{{Reflist Suburbs of Townsville Localities in Queensland