Capella, Queensland
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Capella is a rural town and
locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...
in the
Central Highlands Region Central Highlands Region is a local government area in Queensland, Australia. In the , the Central Highlands Region had a population of 27,836 people. History '' Wadja'' (also known as ''Wadjigu'', ''Wadya'', ''Wadjainngo'', ''Mandalgu'', a ...
,
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
, Australia. In the , the locality of Capella had a population of 974 people.


Geography

Capella is midway between
Emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr., and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991). ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York ...
and Clermont on the
Gregory Highway The Gregory Highway is a state highway in Queensland, Australia that serves the major coal-mining centres of Central Queensland. The highway was named after Augustus Gregory, an early explorer. Route description The highway runs southward fro ...
. The highway, also known as Peak Downs Street, passes through Capella from north to south and is Capella's Main Street. Capella is served by the Capella railway station () on a railway line from
Emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr., and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991). ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York ...
to Blair Athol; it is a branch line of the
Central Western railway line The Central Western railway line is a railway line in Queensland, Australia. It was opened in a series of sections between 1867 and 1928. It commences at Rockhampton and extends west to Winton. History Following the separation of Queensl ...
. The branch line also runs from north to south and is immediately adjacent and to the west of the highway. Capella Creek flows from east to west across the northern part of the locality to the immediate north of the town. Capella Creek is a tributary of the
Nogoa River The Nogoa River is a river in Central Queensland, Australia. Course and features The river rises on the Carnarvon Range, part of the Great Dividing Range, in the Carnarvon National Park and flows in a generally north easterly direction towards ...
, which in turn is a tributary of the Fitzroy River which enters the
Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down t ...
. Despite its name, Capella airport is at Airport Road in neighbouring
Hibernia () is the Classical Latin name for Ireland. The name ''Hibernia'' was taken from Greek geographical accounts. During his exploration of northwest Europe (), Pytheas of Massalia called the island ''Iérnē'' (written ). In his book ''Geogr ...
but on the boundary with Capella (). It has a gravel airstrip. It has no lighting, so it is only suitable for daytime use. It is operated by the Central Highlands Regional Council.


History

Capella was founded on traditional Wangan land in the 1860s by graziers influenced by the good reports of
Ludwig Leichhardt Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt (; 23 October 1813 – ), known as Ludwig Leichhardt, was a German explorer and naturalist, most famous for his exploration of northern and central Australia.Ken Eastwood,'Cold case: Leichhardt's disappearanc ...
. The town takes its name from Capella Creek, which was in turn named after the star
Capella Capella is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Auriga. It has the Bayer designation α Aurigae, which is Latinisation of names, Latinised to Alpha Aurigae and abbreviated Alpha Aur or α Aur. Capella is the lis ...
. The Creek was probably named by surveyor
Charles Frederick Gregory Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...
who, following the discovery of
copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
at Copperfield, about 60 kilometres to the north, surveyed three township sites in the Peak Downs area in 1862: Crinum Creek ( Lilyvale), Capella, and Hoods Lagoon ( Clermont). The town remained a small roadside stopping place halfway between
Emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr., and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991). ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York ...
, to the south, and Clermont, to the north, until a railway line was built connecting the two larger towns in 1882. The same year saw the establishment of a post office, which opened on 5 December. In June 1883 Mr Jorgensen was contracted to build a Presbyterian Church and school for £146, to be completed in one month. Capella Provisional School opened on 29 August 1883. In July 1884 the school had an enrolment of 35 children, and an average attendance of 28 children. In 1900 it became Capella State School. In 1978 a pre-school was added. In 1984 a secondary department was added, but it ceased when Capella State High School opened on 23 January 1989. Gordon Downs Provisional School opened circa 1885 and closed circa 1886. Land resumed from large pastoral runs was made available to small farm selectors in 1883 and small cropping and dairying became early industries; a Butter Factory was built in 1900 under the "Meat and Diary Encouragement Act." From 1894 Wesleyan Methodist services were held at Capella State School by Reverend Taylor, minister of the Wesleyan Church in Clermont. On 2 May 1898, Reverend J.R. Williams, based at Clermont, held the first Wesleyan service in the Capella church. By the late 1890s it was reported that "great improvements have been made at this place of late": in 1898 new offices for the Peak Downs Divisional Board (the fore-runner of the Peak Downs Shire Council) were opened, a number of new shops had been built, and the Old Exchange Hotel and the Peak Downs Hotel were renovated and re-opened. Mrs Lucy Stuart of Gordon Downs Station laid the foundation block for the Holy Spirit Anglican Church on Easter Monday 1 April 1907. The church was opened on 23 October 1907. The early 20th century was a time of stable growth and development in the town, although the population only increased from about 250 in 1900 to 300 in 1930. The 1920s saw a great deal of building. Mrs M.J. Walsh opened a café in October 1925 and a bakery opened shortly thereafter. A new
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
church, St Joseph's, seating 200 people, was dedicated in April 1926. The same year also saw a new hall, picture theatre and
Country Women's Association The Country Women's Association (CWA) is a women's organisation in Australia, which seeks to advance interests of women, families, and communities in Australia, especially those in rural, regional, and remote areas. It comprises seven indep ...
clubrooms built. A branch of the
Queensland National Bank The Queensland National Bank is a former bank in Queensland, Australia. History In 1872, the bank was established in Brisbane. In December 1914, the bank had its head office in Brisbane with branches throughout Queensland at Allora, Queensland, ...
opened in 1930, and a new Catholic presbytery was built. The town became the council seat of the
Shire of Peak Downs The Shire of Peak Downs was a local government area in the Central Highlands of Queensland, Australia, 320 km west of both Rockhampton and Mackay. On 15 March 2008 the shires of Duaringa, Emerald, Bauhinia and Peak Downs were amalgamated t ...
in 1927 and a new Shire Hall was built in 1936. The mid 1930s also saw the town's main streets kerbed and channelled and a "bitumen emulsion paved footpath" laid in the main street, Peak Downs Street. A town electricity supply was introduced in December 1954, although other services had to wait for another decade or more, being introduced between 1962 (a town water supply) and 1982 (mains sewerage). In the 1950s the
Queensland British Food Corporation Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, ...
introduced large-scale grain production into the district on land formerly used for grazing. A run of poor seasons led to the project's failure, but it introduced new crops such as
sunflower The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a species of large annual forb of the daisy family Asteraceae. The common sunflower is harvested for its edible oily seeds, which are often eaten as a snack food. They are also used in the pr ...
and
sorghum ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the Poaceae, grass genus ''Sorghum (genus), Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain i ...
. The Capella Hotel, on the corner of Peak Downs and Crinum Streets, was built in 1955. This was the site of the former Commercial Hotel, built in 1929, which was destroyed by fire in February 1943. The destruction of the Commercial left the town with only one other hotel and the Peak Downs Shire Council, realising the need to provide additional accommodation for visitors to the town, undertook to build the hotel as a function of local government. Several local authorities in Queensland built and ran their own licensed premises in the 1950s, including
Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...
,
Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...
and Winton. The new Capella Hotel was designed by Mr E.A. Hegvold and built by J.J. Booker and Sons at a cost of £33,000. The hotel was officially opened on 7 May 1955. The Peak Downs district was part of the Brigalow Development Scheme in the 1960s with large-scale clearing of the
brigalow ''Acacia harpophylla'', commonly known as brigalow, brigalow spearwood or orkor, is an endemic tree of Australia. The Aboriginal Australian group the Gamilaraay peoples know the tree as Barranbaa or Burrii. It is found in central and coasta ...
scrub by mechanical means. The large new farming blocks opened up by the clearing of the Brigalow lent itself to the broadland growing of grain and cereal crops, particularly sunflower and sorghum. Bulk storage facilities for these new crops was built in 1964 and the population of the district increased with new farming families. Capella saw the opening of a range of new activities and facilities, including a district agricultural show (1961), Girl Guides (1966), and a swimming pool (1969). Coal was discovered at Tieri, about 36 kilometres east of Capella, in 1982 and a large open-cut mine was developed. The mine boosted the economy of the area and the 1980s saw a number of new developments and buildings in Capella, including the Capella Cultural Centre and a pioneer village. Capella State High School opened on 23 January 1989, replacing the secondary department at Capella State School. In 2003 the security of Capella's water supply was assured by a pipeline to Tieri. In 2008 the Shire of Peak Downs was amalgamated into the Central Highlands Regional Shire, with its seat in Emerald.


Demographics

In the , the town of Capella had a population of 796 people. In the , the locality of Capella had a population of 926 people. In the , the locality of Capella had a population of 1,010 people. In the , the locality of Capella had a population of 974 people.


Heritage listings

Capella has a number of nearby
heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and human-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In ma ...
sites, including: * Lilyvale Stand Monument, Lilyvale Road,
Crinum ''Crinum'' is a genus of about 180 species of perennial plants that have large showy flowers on leafless stems, and develop from bulbs. They are found in seasonally moist areas, including marshes, swamps, depressions and along the sides of strea ...


Economy

Capella is a service town catering to the large
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...
-mining interests in the area as well as pastoralists and farmers. GrainCorp have a receiving depot () beside Capella railway station for crops such as
sorghum ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the Poaceae, grass genus ''Sorghum (genus), Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain i ...
,
wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...
,
chickpea The chickpea or chick pea (''Cicer arietinum'') is an annual plant, annual legume of the family (biology), family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae, cultivated for its edible seeds. Its different types are variously known as gram," Bengal gram, ga ...
and
barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...
.


Education

Capella State School is a government primary (Prep–6) school for boys and girls at 41 Huntley Street (). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 171 students with 13 teachers (11 full-time equivalent) and 14 non-teaching staff (7 full-time equivalent). Capella State High School is a government secondary (7–12) school for boys and girls at 35-45 Gordon Street (). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 110 students with 18 teachers (15 full-time equivalent) and 13 non-teaching staff (8 full-time equivalent). It includes a special education program.


Facilities

Capella Police Station is at 35 Huntley Street (). Capella Fire Station is at 18 Conran Street (). Capella SES Facility is at 20 Hibernia Road (). Capella Outpatients Clinic is at 5 Slider Street (). It is one of the Central Queensland Rural Outpatient Clinics. Capella Ambulance Station is at 9 Gordon Street (). The Peak Downs Shire cemetery is located in Walsh Street, Capella (). It has a memorial listing those who were buried in the first Capella Cemetery (1865-1899) located east of Capella.


Amenities

The Central Highlands Regional Council operates Capella Library at 83 Peak Downs Street (). Capella Cultural Centre is an entertainment centre at 89 Peak Downs Street () capable of seating up to 500 people in its main auditorium. It serves as a cinema, a conference venue and has a program of touring entertainers. Bridgeman Park Sporting Complex at 23 Hibernia Road () contains the Capella Showgrounds,
polocrosse Polocrosse is a team sport that is a combination of polo and lacrosse. It is played outside, on a field (the pitch), on horseback. Each rider uses a cane or fiberglass stick to which is attached a racquet head with a loose, thread net, in which ...
fields, football fields, a cricket pitch, and a covered arena. It has powered camping facilities, stables and stockyards, and a dining area with bar. Regular activities include
campdrafting Campdrafting is a unique Australian sport involving a horse and equestrianism, rider working cattle. The riding style is Australian stock saddle, Australian stock, somewhat akin to American Western riding and the event is similar to the Americ ...
, polocrosse,
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
,
rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
, and
cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
. Capella Aquatic Centre is a swimming pool and fitness complex at 107 Peak Downs Street (). It has swimming pools, waterslides, gymnasium and squash courts, as well as a cafe and barbeque facilities. The Capella 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 ...
meets at the QCWA Hall at 87 Peak Downs Street (). Holy Spirit Anglican Church is at 32 Conran Street (corner of Burn Street, ). It is within the Clermont Parish of the Anglican Church Central Queensland. St Joseph's Catholic Church is at 59 Abor Street (). It is within the Capella Tieri parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockhampton. Capella Uniting Church is at 43 Huntley Street ().


Events

There is an annual campdraft event in March as part of a larger regional program of campdraft events. The Capella Show is held annually in May. The Capella Polocrosse Carnival is held annually in July. The Capella Cattledogs are the local rugby union team which compete in the Central Highlands Rugby Union competition which runs from March to September. The Peak Downs Pirates are local rugby league team which compete in the Central Highlands Rugby League competition.


Attractions

Capella Pioneer Village is a museum in Pioneer Street (). It is located in Australia's largest restored drop-plank construction homestead with over 5,000 artefacts grouped into themed exhibits.


References


External links

*
Photos of headstones in Peak Downs Cemetery
{{authority control Towns in Queensland Central Highlands Region Localities in Queensland