Wallangarra 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
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 on the border with
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
.
In the , the locality of Wallangarra had a population of 468 people.
It is the third-most southerly town in Queensland, south west of
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
. Wallangarra is on the
Queensland side of the border and
Jennings
Jennings is a surname of early medieval English origin (also the Anglicised version of the Irish surnames Mac Sheóinín or MacJonin). Notable people with the surname include:
*Jennings (Swedish noble family)
A–G
*Adam Jennings (born 1982), A ...
is on the New South Wales side.
Geography
Wallangarra lies in a valley between two ranges of mountains, which are branches of the
Great Dividing Range
The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs rough ...
. It is 878 m above sea level. There is a gap between the more Westerly range at Wyberba, about five kilometres north of Wallangarra. This gap has made Wallangarra the major inland border crossing for 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 what was the first railway line between Brisbane and Sydney. It is situated on the northern periphery of the
New England Peppermint Grassy Woodland
The New England Peppermint Grassy Woodland is a grassy-woodland community primarily situated in the New England and Northern Tablelands regions in northern New South Wales, Australia. Named after the Eucalyptus nova-anglica, it is listed as a ...
.
History
In 1885, the
Queensland Government
The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended fr ...
announced that a town would be formed where the railway line between Queensland and New South Wales would meet. On 29 June 1885, 179 lots were offered for sale at . The town would provide a
break-of-gauge
With railways, a break of gauge occurs where a line of one track gauge (the distance between the rails, or between the wheels of trains designed to run on those rails) meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock generally cannot ...
between Queensland's
narrow gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
Southern railway line
The Southern railway line serves the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. The long line branches from the Western line at Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, and proceeds south through Warwick and Stanthorpe to the New South Wales/Quee ...
of and New South Wales's
standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
Main North railway line of when the two systems came together in 1888. Two railway stations were created within the area. One was named
Wallan-garra railway station ()
and the town took its name from the station but used the spelling Wallangarra (with most people using the same spelling for the railway station).
Bald Mountain railway station () was the other railway station and is now abandoned.
Wallangarra Provisional School opened on 13 February 1888. On 1 January 1909, it became Wallangarra State School.
The railway was the only rail link between Queensland and New South Wales until a standard gauge track was completed via
Kyogle
Kyogle () is a town in the Northern Rivers region of northern New South Wales, Australia. It falls within the local government area of Kyogle Council. At the 2016 census, Kyogle had a population of 2,751 people. Kyogle is known as a "gateway" ...
in 1930, with the completion of the bridge over the
Clarence River at
Grafton. From that time on, the Wallangarra railway station lessened in importance. Scheduled rail services ended in 1997. In 2003, after major refurbishment, the station was reopened as a museum. The railway line from
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 Wallangarra has continued to be maintained and steam trains taking tourists to Wallangarra occasionally operate.
The Anderson Meat Packing Company was restarted by
Mr. A.W. Anderson in 1938 after a 15-month closure. Until 1982 it operated a large beef
abattoir
A slaughterhouse, also called abattoir (), is a facility where animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a packaging facility.
Slaughterhouses that produce meat that is no ...
at Wallangarra. Anderson's employed in excess of 400 workers at the Wallangarra plant. The plant was located on the border so as to take advantage of rail lines from both Queensland and NSW.
During
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 Commonwealth Government created a general army store on the Queensland side of the border, and an
ammunition dump
An ammunition dump, ammunition supply point (ASP), ammunition handling area (AHA) or ammunition depot is a military storage facility for live ammunition and explosives.
The storage of live ammunition and explosives is inherently hazardous. Th ...
on the New South Wales side.
Dual gauge
In railway engineering, "gauge" is the transverse distance between the inner surfaces of the heads of two rails, which for the vast majority of railway lines is the number of rails in place. However, it is sometimes necessary for track to c ...
tracks were run to each store. Access to the army stores was via Margetts St, one of the main roads in the town. The late Muriel Daphne Verdun Nicolson lived at 30 Margetts St from before WWII until her death in 2001. During WWII she reported that the flow of trucks and
materiel
Materiel (; ) refers to supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commercial supply chain context.
In a military context, the term ''materiel'' refers either to the specifi ...
went on all day and night.
Wallangarra Cemetery was established in 1953.
On 12 September 1964 St Gabrielle's Anglican Church was dedicated by Bishop
John Hudson
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
. Its closure circa 2013 was approved by Bishop
Robert Nolan. The church building has been sold into private ownership but remains at 54 Merinda Street ().
Taking advantage of the rail junction Riverina Stock Feeds operated a packing plant opposite the Wallangarra railway station for many years until 1995. After that it moved to Warwick, a city to the north. Warwick also has a major Woolworths warehouse. The Chairman of Woolworths who located the warehouse at Warwick grew up in Wallangarra.
Circa 2005
Thomas Foods International opened Australia's largest mutton works opened on a new site just to the east of the town. The mutton produced is
Halal
''Halal'' (; ar, حلال, ) is an Arabic word that translates to "permissible" in English. In the Quran, the word ''halal'' is contrasted with ''haram'' (forbidden). This binary opposition was elaborated into a more complex classification kno ...
, and most of it is exported to Arab countries. The abattoir shut down in July 2016 for "the short to medium term" blaming low stock numbers and poor global trading conditions.
At the , Wallangarra had a population of 385.
In the , the locality of Wallangarra had a population of 468 people.
Heritage listings
Wallangarra 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:
* Woodlawn Street:
Wallangarra railway station
Wallangarra railway station is a heritage-listed railway station at Woodlawn Street, Wallangarra, Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1877 along the state border of Queensland and New South Wales It was added to the Q ...
Economy
As of 2013, the Wallangarra Stores Depot remains a major Australian Army logistics facility. It is used to store a wide range of engineering and general equipment, clothing, and tents. Bulk fuel storage handling apparatus are also held at the site.
The munitions storage facility is also still active in Jennings.
Education
Wallangarra State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 50 Callandoon Street ().
In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 76 students with 4 teachers (3 full-time equivalent) and 6 non-teaching staff (3 full-time equivalent).
There is no secondary school in Wallangarra. The nearest government 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-east.
Facilities
![Wallangarra cemetery, 2015](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Wallangarra_cemetery%2C_2015.JPG)
The Wallangarra Cemetery is in McCall Street ().
Amenities
The Wallangarra branch of the
Queensland Country Women's Association
The Queensland Country Women's Association (QCWA) is the Queensland chapter of the Country Women's Association in Australia. The association seeks to serve the interests of women and children in rural areas in Australia through a network of loca ...
has its rooms at 52 Rockwell Street.
Attractions
Wallangarra is situated on the picturesque
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 gr ...
, and is bounded by
Sundown National Park to the West and
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 ...
to the East.
Beehive Dam
Beehive Dam is north of the town. It is a popular fishing spot as it is stocked with
golden perch
The golden perch (''Macquaria ambigua'') is a medium-sized, yellow or gold-coloured species of Australian freshwater fish found primarily in the Murray-Darling River system, though a subspecies is found in the Lake Eyre-Cooper Creek system, an ...
,
Murray cod and
silver perch by the Jennings Wallangarra Fishing Club.
Notable former residents
Rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
legend
Billy Moore lived in Wallangarra as a child. He is best known for playing for the
North Sydney Bears
The North Sydney Bears is an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. The club competes in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 90 years in the ...
and the
Queensland State of Origin team
The Queensland rugby league team represents the Australian state of Queensland in rugby league football. Nicknamed the "Maroons" after the colour of their jersey, they play three times a year against arch-rivals New South Wales in the State of O ...
. He was born in
Tenterfield, New South Wales
Tenterfield is a regional town in New South Wales, Australia. At the , Tenterfield had a population of 4,066. Tenterfield's proximity to many regional centres and its position on the route between Sydney and Brisbane led to its development as a ...
as this was the closest hospital.
Climate
![Wallangarra Post Office, 2015](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Wallangarra_Post_Office%2C_2015.JPG)
Wallangarra is the coldest (and snowiest) town in Queensland, due to its altitude and extreme southerly location in the state. Maximum temperatures average in winter and in summer. Wallangarra holds the record for the lowest maximum temperature in Queensland, on 3 July 1984.
However due to its exposed location, minimum temperatures are not particularly low; towns of significantly lower altitude such as
Warwick
Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...
and
Oakey frequently record lower minima, and especially
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 ...
of similar altitude but much flatter topography (which in turn causes warmer maximum temperatures compared to Wallangarra).
References
External links
*
*
{{authority control
Towns in Queensland
Towns in the Darling Downs
Southern Downs Region
1885 establishments in Australia
Populated places established in 1885
Queensland in World War II
Localities in Queensland