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Biggenden
Queensland
BiggendenMainStreet.JPG
Biggenden's main street
Biggenden is located in Queensland
Biggenden
Biggenden
Location in Queensland
Population 845 (2016 census)
 • Density 3.866/km2 (10.01/sq mi)
Established 1889
Postcode(s) 4621
Area 218.6 km2 (84.4 sq mi)
Time zone AEST (UTC+10:00)
Location
LGA(s) North Burnett Region
State electorate(s) Callide
Federal Division(s) Hinkler
Localities around Biggenden:
Didcot Degilbo Woowoonga
Coalstoun Lakes Biggenden Lakeside
Dundarrah Stockhaven Boompa

Biggenden is a rural town and locality in the North Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Biggenden had a population of 845 people.

History

The name is derived from the Kabi word bigindhan meaning a place of stringybark.

Biggenden was founded in 1889 as a service centre to the short-lived goldrush towns of Paradise and Shamrock; and for coach passengers travelling west from Maryborough. The township, including the intriguingly named Live And Let Live Inn, moved to a new location alongside the railway station when the rail line arrived in 1891. Biggenden Post Office opened on 16 May 1891.

Biggenden Provisional school opened on 9 May 1892, becoming Biggenden State School in 1900. In January 1953, the school experimented with offering high school subjects by correspondence. In 1958, a secondary school section was added.

Paradise Dam

In November 2005, the Queensland Government opened the Paradise Dam, about 30 minutes north-west of Biggenden, on the Burnett River. The 300,000ML dam, which submerges the former gold mining town of the same name, is touted as securing the future of the nearby Bundaberg and Childers region, although no water will be available for residents of the Biggenden area. However, more than 400 jobs were created during its construction and the dam site is proving to be one of the shire's largest tourist attraction. Artefacts and buildings removed from Paradise before the dam wall was built are now on display by the Biggenden Historical Society.

Paradise Dam will be used by the government as the model for the highly controversial Traveston Crossing Dam on the Mary River, about two hours south. A 2005 report commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund found Paradise to be one of the six worst-planned dams since the World Commission on Dams in 2000.

Facilities

Biggenden has a public library, swimming pool, bowling and golf club, memorial hall and showground

Economy

StateLibQld 2 77107 Biggenden Bismuth Mine
Biggenden Bismuth Mine, 1908
StateLibQld 2 179679 Mines in Biggenden, ca. 1926
Mines in Biggenden, ca. 1926, Negative number 143174, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.

The Mt Biggenden mine provided employment to the local community for over a hundred years, before its magnetite iron ore operation closed in 1999.

Primary production is the most significant industry in the Shire with beef and dairy cattle being predominant. Other agricultural pursuits include grain crops, piggeries, peanuts, citrus and timber. The area is also rich in minerals. Biggenden Mine is located eight kilometres out of town off Ban Ban Springs Road. Gold, bismuth and more recently magnetite have been extracted from the mine. The township is also close to Coalstoun Lakes National Park and Mount Walsh National Park.

Education

Biggenden State School is a government primary and secondary (Prep-10) school for boys and girls at Frederick Street (25°30′39″S 152°02′51″E / 25.5107°S 152.0474°E / -25.5107; 152.0474 (Biggenden State School)). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 143 students with 18 teachers (16 full-time equivalent) and 12 non-teaching staff (8 full-time equivalent).

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