Julia Creek is an

outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a ...

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 Shire of Mckinlay,

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 , the locality of Julia Creek had a population of 511 people. The town of Oorindi is within the west of the locality () beside the Oorindi railway station; as at 2019, there is nothing in the town. The town of Gilliat is within the west of the locality () beside the Gilliat railway station; as at 2019, there is nothing in the town.

Geography

Julia Creek is a town in mid northern

, located on the Flinders Highway ( Overlanders Way), the main road between

Mount Isa Mount Isa ( ) is a city in the Gulf Country region of Queensland, Australia. It came into existence because of the vast mineral deposits found in the area. Mount Isa Mines (MIM) is one of the most productive single mines in world history, base ...

and

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 ...

. It is west of Townsville, and is located 123 m above sea level. The town of Julia Creek is on the Great Northern Railway; the locality being served by a number of railway stations (from west to east): * Oorindi railway station () * Bookin railway station, now abandoned () * Tibarri railway station is a railway station () * Gilliat railway station () * Eddington railway station, now abandoned () * Gunjoola railway station () *Julia Creek railway station, serving the town () * Quarrells railway station () *Nelia railway station ()

Climate

Julia Creek experiences a

hot semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi- ...

( Köppen: ''BSh'',

Trewartha Trewartha and Andrewartha are Cornish family names (and placename, Dexter). There are places called Trewartha in the parishes of Merther, St Agnes, St Neot and Veryan. According to the ''Handbook of Cornish Names'' by G. Pawley White, "Tre ...

: ''BShl''), with a very hot and humid, yet short

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...

from December to March; and a long, warm to hot

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The ...

from April to November.

History

The name ''Julia Creek'' was named after the niece of Donald McIntyre (younger brother of Duncan McIntyre), the first white settler in the area.Towns - Julia Creek
,

James Cook University James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cairn ...

, retrieved 9 March 2007 McIntyre took up a property called Dalgonally about north of the present site of the town in 1864, only a few years after the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition passed through the area. The township began life as a temporary railway terminus in 1907 when the Great Northern railway line was extended from

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, Californi ...

to service the copper mines at

Cloncurry Cloncurry is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Cloncurry had a population of 2,719 people. Cloncurry is the administrative centre of the Shire of Cloncurry. Cloncurry is known a ...

. The name ''Oorindi'' is the Aboriginal name for the Williams River (which is about west of Oorindi) and means ''stones''. Julia Creek Post Office opened by September 1910 (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 se ...

had been open from 1907). Julia Creek State School was a

one-room school One-room schools, or schoolhouses, were commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries, including Prussia, Norway, Sweden, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Spain. In most rural and s ...

established in 1911 with nine students, and was expanded in 1932 and again in 1934. A separate high school was constructed in 1963. In 1952 the town was serviced with electricity. St Joseph's School opened in 1955 and closed in 1995. A sixteen-bed hospital was established in 1972. Julia Creek Public Library was opened in 1994. In the . the locality of Julia Creek had a population of 511 people. The Dirt n Dust Festival sporting and music festival was held in the town annually from 1995 to 2019 and was considered one of Queensland's largest events of its type. After cancellations in 2020 and 2021 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, it was announced in July 2021 that due to a lack of volunteers, and there being no committee to run the event, the Dirt n Dust Festival would no longer be held. But in December 2021, an organising committee was formed and the 2022 festival is expected to commence on Friday 22 April.

Economy

The town's main industries are farming, (especially the

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantit ...

and

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. ...

industries), and

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the econom ...

, which is mainly centred on the

South32 South32 is a mining and metals company headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. It was spun out of BHP Billiton on 18 May 2015. It is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange with secondary listings on the Johannesburg and London Stock ...

mine at nearby Cannington. The town is a major centre for cattle sales and stock trucking, with a large saleyard and associated facilities. Prior to the expansion of the railway to the larger towns of Cloncurry and Mount Isa, the town was also a major transport hub for freight and passengers. Julia Creek is also home to the Julia Creek dunnart which is now endangered because of feral animals (wild cats, dogs & foxes).

Education

Julia Creek State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at Burke Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 34 students with 3 teachers and 4 non-teaching staff (3 full-time equivalent). There are no secondary schools in Julia Creek. The nearest secondary schools are in

(only to Year 10) and

(to Year 12).

Amenities

Julia Creek has a public library, visitor and cultural centre, swimming pool, tennis courts, parks as well as a sports centre. The Mckinlay Shire Council operates a public library in Julia Creek at 56 Burke Street. The Julia Creek 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 51 Burke Street. St Barnabas Anglican Church is at 1 Burke Street. Regular services by the

Uniting Church in Australia The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Uni ...

are held in St Baranabas Anglican Church. These are provided by the McKay Patrol, an aerial service of the

that operates out of

. Supported by other denominations, the McKay Patrol operates a Cessna 182Q aeroplane to provide spiritual and practical help to people living in remote areas in the north-west of Queensland and the eastern Tablelands of the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

, an area of approximately with a population of less than 10,000 people.

Transport

References

External links

* *
Fairfax Digital Travel GuideBureau of Meteorology Weather ConditionsTanksinker – The Story of Max Burns and the Township of Julia Creek
{{authority control Towns in Queensland North West Queensland Shire of Mckinlay Localities in Queensland