Dalrymple is a former township on the western bank of the

Burdekin River The Burdekin River is a river in North and Far North Queensland, Australia. The river rises on the northern slopes of Boulder Mountain at Valley of Lagoons, part of the western slope of the Seaview Range, and flows into the Coral Sea at Upsta ...

Charters Towers Region The Charters Towers Region is a local government area in North Queensland, Australia southwest of, and inland from the city of Townsville, based in Charters Towers. Established in 2008, it was preceded by two previous local government areas whic ...

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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Established in 1864 as a police camp it was destroyed by flooding in 1870 and was abandoned in the following years. The site of the former township now falls within Dalrymple National Park where headstones and fencing remaining from the sites settlement can be found.

History

In 1863,

George Elphinstone Dalrymple George Augustus Frederick Elphinstone Dalrymple (6 May 1826 – 22 January 1876) was a colonist, explorer, public servant and politician, member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. He founded the towns of Bowen and Cardwell, and pionee ...

claimed pastoral land in an area of recently opened

crown lands Crown land, also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. Today, in Commonwealth realm ...

, ''The Valley of Lagoons''. A police camp was established at the southern extent of Dalrymple's land, the future location of the township, and in 1864 became the first inland town in Northern Australia to be surveyed. The township became a crossing of the Burdekin River for travellers headed west from

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 following the discovery of Gold at Cape River in 1868 became a major center for the nearby goldfields. In 1868 the township was formally named Dalrymple after the man. At its peak the township had 5 hotels and many other businesses. The township was destroyed in 1870 by floods, was in the years that followed abandoned due to the exhaustion of the nearby Cape River goldfields in 1869 and the discovery of gold in nearby Ravenswood and

Charters Towers Charters Towers is a rural town in the Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It is by road south-west from Townsville on the Flinders Highway. During the last quarter of the 19th century, the town boomed as the rich gold deposits und ...

. The population had fallen to 59 by 1881 and was just 25 in 1886. By 1901 the site of the former township was entirely abandoned and few structures remained. Burdekin Post Office opened on 1 April 1864, was renamed Dalrymple by 1868 and closed in 1887.

References

{{authority control Populated places established in 1864 North Queensland 1864 establishments in Australia Charters Towers Region