Morella was a rural

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 ...

within

Longreach Region The Longreach Region is a local government area in Central West Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it superseded three previous local government areas that had existed for more than a century. It has an estimated operating budget of 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 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 ...

. Since January 2019, it has been amalgamated into the locality of

Longreach Longreach is a rural town and locality in the Longreach Region, Queensland, Australia. It is the administrative centre of the Longreach Regional Council, which was established in 2008 as a merger of the former Longreach, Ilfracombe, and I ...

Geography

The

Landsborough Highway Landsborough Highway is a highway in western Queensland, Australia, running in the northwest–southeast direction from Morven to Cloncurry. The Landsborough Highway runs through vast tracts of land that was once occupied by William Landsboro ...

passed from south-east to north-west through the locality.

History

Morella railway station () on 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 ...

was named by the

Queensland Railways Department Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Queensland Rail is owned by the Queensland Government, and operates both suburban and interurban rail services in South East Queensland, as well as long-distance passenger t ...

on 7 August 1925. It is an Aboriginal word meaning ''small hill.'' Morella Post Office opened on 1 July 1927 and closed in 1979. Town lots were sold in November 1948 centred on . Local women formed the Morella 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 ...

in October 1944. Initially they met at the Hereward and Tandara homesteads. About September 1951 they opened their own hall (). Evesham State School opened on 23 January 1967. It was mothballed on 31 December 2009 and then permanently closed on 31 December 2010. The school was on Silsoe Road. The school's website was archived. In the , Morella had a population of 33 people. In January 2019, it was decided to reduce the number of

localities 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 ...

within Longreach Region by amalgamating the localities to the north and west of the town of

into the locality of Longreach. The localities amalgamated were:

Camoola Camoola was a rural locality within the Longreach Region, Queensland, Australia, situated between the towns of Longreach and Muttaburra. It has been amalgamated into the locality of Longreach. History In the , Camoola had a population of 29 p ...

Chorregon Chorregon was a rural locality in the Longreach Region, Queensland, Australia. Its name is reportedly derived from an Aboriginal word, language and dialect unknown, indicating wallaby. It is now part of the locality of Longreach. History In th ...

, Ernestina,

Maneroo Maneroo was a rural locality in the Longreach Region, Queensland, Australia. It is now part of Longreach. History In the , Maneroo had a population of 37 people. In January 2019, it was decided to reduce the number of localities within the Lo ...

, Morella, Tocal, and Vergemont. As a consequence of this amalgamation, the Longreach Region has only three localities: Longreach, Ilframcombe and Isisford.

Heritage listings

Morella had a number of

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: *

Darr River Downs Darr River Downs is a heritage-listed homestead (buildings), homestead at Landsborough Highway, Morella, Queensland, Morella, Longreach Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1870s circa to 1900s circa. It was added to the Queensland ...

; Landsborough Highway ()

Amenities

There was a branch of the

in Morella off Morella Road ().

References

External links

Map showing Morella before the 2019 amalgamationarchived
on 28 July 2019) {{Longreach Region Longreach Region Former localities in Queensland