Paluma is a town in the

City of Townsville The City of Townsville is a local government area (LGA) located in North Queensland, Australia. It encompasses the city of Townsville, together with the surrounding rural areas. To the south are the communities of Alligator Creek, Woodstock a ...

and a

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 ...

split between the City of Townsville and the

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. In the , the locality of Paluma had a population of 87 people. It is in the Mount Spec Ranges and is the southernmost point of

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 ...

's heritage-listed

Wet Tropics The Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Site consists of approximately 8,940 km2 of Australian wet tropical forests growing along the north-east Queensland portion of the Great Dividing Range. The Wet Tropics of Queensland meets all f ...

Geography

The town of Paluma is in the east of the locality in the of the locality within the City of Townsville. The residential land use is mostly within the town.The remaining to the west in the Charters Towers Region has a mix of uses including grazing on native vegetation, the

Paluma Range National Park Paluma Range is a national park located between Ingham and Townsville, in north Queensland, Australia. The park is 1188 km north of Brisbane. Geography The park contains the Jourama Falls, Crystal Creek and Lake Paluma. Ecology Most of ...

, the Paluma State Forest, and the Mount Zero Taravale Private Nature Reserve (operated by the

Australian Wildlife Conservancy The Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) is an independent Australian nonprofit organisation, working to conserve threatened wildlife and ecosystems in Australia. AWC is the largest private owner and manager of land for conservation in Austral ...

). The now-closed Greenvale railway line passed through the locality which was served by the now-abandoned Girrinjah railway station (). Paluma has the following mountains: * Black Hill () * Krugers Hill () * Mount Bitalli () * Mount Bradley () * Mount Brown () * Mount Foxton () * Mount Julia () * Mount Moss () * Mount Nokomis () * Mount Podge () * Mount Ryan () * Mount Spectacle () * Mount Zero () * Pinnacle () * Powell Knob () * Snake Hill () * Sugarloaf () * Trial Hill () * Twin Hills () * Willett Knob ()

History

The area was originally known as Cloudy Clearing until it was renamed Paluma in 1934. It developed from a mining and forestry background. The first people to arrive here were tin prospectors in the 1870s after an abundance of

tin Tin is a chemical element; it has symbol Sn () and atomic number 50. A silvery-colored metal, tin is soft enough to be cut with little force, and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, a bar of tin makes a sound, the ...

in the mountains. The area remained isolated until a road was built up the range in the 1930s. This industry lasted for years until landowners worked together to shut it down. The tin industry was using the creeks for washing the tin; however, this was incompatible with using the creeks for Paluma's water supply. Running River Provisional School opened in 1946 but closed on 31 December 1949. The school re-opened on 2 February 1954 but closed on 21 June 1963. It re-opened on 23 January 1965 and closed on 10 April 1974. It subsequently re-opened and closed permanently on 16 December 1994. It was at 28 Furber Road (also known as Breakaway Road and Ewan Road, ); it was a site with a frontage onto Running River. Paluma Temporary School opened on 28 September 1950, becoming Paluma State School in 1952. The school closed on 19 July 1968 due to falling enrolments. The Paluma Environmental Education Centre was established in 1977 by the

Queensland Department of Education The Department of Education is a ministerial department of the Queensland Government responsible for the administration and quality of education in Queensland, Australia. The department is composed of two separate portfolios, Education Queen ...

on the site of Paluma State School.

Demographics

In the , the locality of Paluma had a population of 68 people. In the , the locality of Paluma had a population of 87 people.

Heritage listings

The Mount Spec Road and Little Crystal Creek Bridge is a heritage-listed road with stone-faced arch bridge in the Mount Spec Ranges built in 1933. It is the only arch road bridge that remains in service in Queensland. Crystal clear water flows down the creek filling the deep pools of Little Crystal Creek, making it an excellent natural swimming hole. It is listed on the

Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As ...

Education

Paluma Environmental Education Centre is an Outdoor and Environmental Education Centre at 53 Mt Spec Road (). The school provides students from years 1 to 12 the opportunity to engage with the natural environment with one of the classrooms built underneath the canopy of the forest. There are no mainstream schools in Paluma. The nearest government primary schools are Mutarnee State School in Mutarnee to the north-east of the town of Paluma and Mount Fox State School in neighbouring Mount Fox to the north-west. The nearest government secondary school is Ingham State High School in Ingham to the north. However, much of this large locality is too distant from these schools and the options would be

distance education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance; today, it usually involves online ...

or boarding schools.

References

External links

* {{authority control Suburbs of Townsville Tourist attractions in Queensland Charters Towers Region Localities in Queensland Mining towns in Queensland