Petford is 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 ...

in the

Shire of Mareeba The Shire of Mareeba is a Local government in Australia, local government area at the base of Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, inland from Cairns, Queensland, Cairns. The shire, administered from the town of Mareeba, Queensland, Mare ...

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 , Petford had a population of 22 people.

Geography

''Emu Creek'' flows through from east to north, where it joins the ''

Walsh River The Walsh River is a river located on the Cape York Peninsula of Far North Queensland, Australia. The headwaters of the river rise in the locality of Watsonville on the Atherton Tableland approximately north of Herberton and then flow in ...

'' as it forms part of the northern boundary. ''California Creek'', a tributary of the ''

Tate River The Tate River is a river in Far North Queensland, Australia. The headwaters of the river rise under Three Mile Mountain in the Great Dividing Range. Formed by the confluence of the Packsaddle Creek and California Creek, the river flows east t ...

'', forms much of the southern boundary. Two other tributaries of the ''Tate River'', ''Oaky Creek'' and ''Martin Creek'', rise in the locality. The former mining town of Lappa is within the locality. The

Burke Developmental Road The Burke Developmental Road is a Queensland (Australia) developmental road. It links Cloncurry and Normanton in a south–north direction, then turns to the north-east north of Normanton for before turning south-east till Dimbulah, where i ...

enters the locality from the north-east ( Dimbulah) and exits to the west (

Chillagoe Chillagoe is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Chillagoe had a population of 214 people. It was once a thriving mining town for a range of minerals, but is now reduced to a small ...

). The

Tablelands railway line The Tablelands railway line is a railway line in North Queensland, Australia. It was opened in a series of sections between 1887 and 1916. It commences at Cairns and at its maximum extent, reached Ravenshoe at the southern end of the ...

enters the locality from the north-east ( Dimbulah) and exits to the west (

) loosely following the same route as the Burke Developmental Road. The locality is served by the following railway stations (from north to south): * Cape Horn railway station, now abandoned () * Petford railway station () * Lappa railway station () * Koorboora railway station ()

History

The locality takes its name from the railway station which was named after John Joseph Petford, an official of

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 ...

for many years. The railway station was on the Chillagoe Railway & Mining Co. line from

Mareeba Mareeba is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Mareeba in Far North Queensland, Australia. Between 2008 and 2013, it was within the Tablelands Region. The town's name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning ''meeting of the water ...

Mount Garnet Mount Garnet is a rural town and locality in the Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Mount Garnet had a population of 532 people. Geography Various small communities populate the area around Mount Garnet. These ...

which opened its first section from Mareeba to Lappa, just south-west of Petford, in 1900. The station no longer operates, but the line still exists, with the Savannahlander tourist train passing through Petford on its way between

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

and

Forsayth Forsayth is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Etheridge, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Forsayth had a population of 107 people. Geography Forsayth is in Far North Queensland approximately by road from Cairns. The t ...

. Lappa Lappa Provisional School opened in 1900 and closed circa 1901. Koorboora Provisional School opened on 1903. On 1 January 1909, it became Koorboora State School. It closed in 1926. Bamford Provisional School opened on 23 January 1905. The school closed in 1907 but reopened in 1908. On 1 January 1909 it became Bamford State School. It closed on 2 August 1935, to be replaced by Petford State School. Emuford Provisional State School opened circa 1910 and closed circa 1921. Petford State School opened on 5 August 1935, replacing Bamford State School, The school closed in 1962. It reopened on 27 January 1976 and closed finally on 15 December 1995. It was at 21 Bamford Road ().

Demographics

In the , Petford had a population of 32 people. In the , Petford had a population of 22 people.

Education

There are no schools in Petford. The nearest government primary schools are Dimbulah State School in neighbouring Dimbulah to the north-east and Mount Garnet State School in

to the south-east. The nearest government secondary school is Dimbulah State School (to Year 10). For secondary education to Year 12, the options are

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 ...

and boarding school.

References

{{Shire of Mareeba Shire of Mareeba Localities in Queensland