Beecher is a rural locality in the Gladstone Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Beecher had a population of 863 people.

Geography

The

Calliope River The Calliope River is a river located in Central Queensland, Australia. The river rises in the Calliope Range inland from the industrial port city of Gladstone, flows past the town of Calliope, before emptying into the Pacific Ocean just north o ...

forms the western boundary of the locality. Clyde Creek flows through the locality from the south towards the north-west where it flows into the Calliope River at the most north-western part of the locality. The residential and farming mainly occurs on the lower land (0–10 metres above sea level) surrounding the creek. The Dawson Highway and the Moura railway line also passes from north to south through the locality in this lower-lying area. The land in the east of the suburb is hillier (rising to 130 metres) and is protected as the Mount Maurice State Forest. Mount Beecher (156 metres) in the south-west of the locality, much of which is protected as the Beecher State Forest.

History

Beecher is named after Mount Beecher, which was named in 1853 by surveyor Francis MacCabe apparently after

Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and became best known for her novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (1852), which depicts the harsh ...

, author of the novel '' Uncle Tom's Cabin''. McCabe also named Mount Tom and Mount Stowe in the same area. Calliope River State School opened on 11 August 1874 and closed in December 1881. Calliope River Provisional School on 1 November 1882 and closed in 1893. Calliope River Provisional School opened in 1897 but closed in 1905. Calliope River State School opened on 27 May 1912, it was renamed Beecher State School in 1919, and closed on 4 July 1943. The locality was served by the Beecher railway station () on the Moura railway line, but the station is now abandoned. In the , Beecher had a population of 863 people.

Education

There are no schools in Beecher. The nearest government school is Clinton State School in

Clinton Clinton is an English toponymic surname, indicating one's ancestors came from English places called Glympton or Glinton.Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. ''A Dictionary of Surnames''. Oxford University Press, 1988 Clinton has frequently been used as a given ...

to the north. The nearest government secondary schools are Gladstone State High School in West Gladstone to the north and Toolooa State High School in South Gladstone to the north-east.

References

{{Gladstone Region Gladstone Region Localities in Queensland