Tinaroo 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

Tablelands Region The Tablelands Region is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia inland from the city of Cairns, Queensland, Cairns. Established in 2008, it was preceded by four previous local government areas ...

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 , Tinaroo had a population of 293 people. The town of Tinaroo Falls is on the eastern edge of the locality () beside Lake Tinaroo.

Geography

Tinaroo is located on the shore of Lake Tinaroo, a man-made

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

created by the impoundment of the Barron River by the

Tinaroo Dam The Tinaroo Dam, officially the Tinaroo Falls Dam, is a major ungated concrete gravity dam, gravity dam with a Spillway#Types, central ogee spillway across the Barron River (Queensland), Barron River located on the Atherton Tableland in Far Nor ...

. Despite the town's name, the waterfall of the same name is not in the town nor the locality, but it is very close by in the neighbouring locality of Lake Tinaroo, which includes the dam wall, the lake it impounds and the shoreline around the lake.

History

The town and locality take their name from Tinaroo Creek, which is believed to derive from ''tin hurroo'', a shout used by tin miners. Construction of the dam commenced in 1955 and the town was created to house the workers and their families. Tinaroo State School opened on 28 June 1954 for the workers' children. Construction completed in 1958 and the school closed on 4 December 1959. Tinaroo Environmental Education Centre was established in 1987.

Demographics

In the , Tinaroo had a population of 266 people. In the , Tinaroo had a population of 312 people. In the , Tinaroo had a population of 293 people.

Education

Tinaroo Environmental Education Centre is 30-44 Tinaroo Falls Dam Road (). Operated by the Queensland Education Department, it provides outdoor and environment school programs. There are no mainstream schools in Tinaroo. The nearest government primary school is Kairi State School in neighbouring Kairi to the south. The nearest government secondary school is Atherton State High School in Atherton to the south-west.

Attractions

Torpedo Bay Walking Track commences 2.3 km north of the dam wall and includes six lookouts. Platypus Rock Lookout is accessed from the Platypus Campground Road (). There is a boat ramp in Church Street providing access to the lake (). It is managed by the Tablelands Regional Council.

References

External links

*
Town map of Tinaroo Falls, 1978
Populated places in Far North Queensland Tablelands Region Localities in Queensland {{authority control