Springsure facts for kids
Quick facts for kids SpringsureQueensland |
|||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Entrance sign, Springsure, Queensland
|
|||||||||||||||
 Springsure
Location in Queensland
|
|||||||||||||||
| Population | 1,103 (2016 census) | ||||||||||||||
| • Density | 7.790/km2 (20.18/sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 4722 | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation | 344.9 m (1,132 ft) | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 141.6 km2 (54.7 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Time zone | AEST (UTC+10:00) | ||||||||||||||
| Location |
|
||||||||||||||
| LGA(s) | Central Highlands Region | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Gregory | ||||||||||||||
| Federal Division(s) | Flynn | ||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
Springsure is a town and a locality in the Central Highlands Region, Queensland, Australia. It is 66 kilometres (41 mi) south of Emerald on the Gregory Highway. It is the southern terminus of the Gregory Highway and the northern terminus of the Dawson Highway. It is 765 kilometres (475 mi) northwest of Brisbane. In the 2016 census, Springsure had a population of 1,103 people.
History
The area was originally occupied by Aboriginal people, for thousands of years.
Ludwig Leichhardt was the first European to explore the area between 1843 and 1845. His favourable reports encouraged settlers to move in and settle the land being traversed by local Aboriginal groups. Squatter Horatio Wills and a party of Victorian settlers arrived near modern-day Springsure in 1861. Two weeks later, 19 men women and children, including Wills, were killed by Aboriginal Australian people, the Kairi or Gayiri, in the Cullin-La-Ringo massacre, the largest massacre of European settlers by Aboriginals in Australian history. At least 15 Aboriginal men, women and children were killed by the Queensland Native Police and militias of local European colonists and their employees, in a series of reprisals over the months that followed. However, the massacre of the 19 European family members was itself a retaliatory response to an earlier shooting of fugitive murderer who was Gayiri tribesman by Jesse Gregson (manager of nearby Rainsworth Station) with Second Lieutenant Alfred March Patrick and Native Police Troops in his command. The Old Rainworth Fort was built in 1862 by the colonists of Springsure in order to defend themselves from future raids by Aboriginals .
Horatio's son, star cricketer and Australian rules football pioneer Tom Wills, survived the massacre, and remained on site until 1864.
On 6 December 1919, the Springsure State School Memorial Fountain was dedicated by Mrs Annie Wheeler (née Laurie), a former pupil at the school. The memorial is a marble fountain and commemorates students of the school who served in World War I.
On 16 November 1943 a Douglas C-47A Skytrain broke up in mid-air during a violent storm in the area, and crashed on Rewan Station, just south of Spingsure. All 19 people on board the aircraft perished in the crash.
Today, Springsure is a pastoral settlement serving cattle farms, and sunflower, sorghum, wheat and chickpea plantations.
Springsure State School opened on 14 March 1870.
Heritage listings
Springsure has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
- 13 Woodbine Street: Springsure Hospital Museum
- Wealwandangie Road, Cairdbeign: Old Rainworth Stone Store
Feature
A cliff face in the hills surrounding Springsure is known to the area as Virgin Rock, named because it once looked like the Virgin Mary cradling the baby Jesus, although years of erosion have blurred the original resemblance.
Facilities
Facilities at Springsure include an airport, caravan park, hospital, library, motocross track, police station, service station and showground.
Education
Springsure State School is a government primary and secondary (Prep-10) school for boys and girls at 55 Eclipse Street (24°06′57″S 148°05′19″E / 24.1157°S 148.0885°E). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 158 students with 21 teachers (16 full-time equivalent) and 14 non-teaching staff (8 full-time equivalent). Their school motto is 'Success by Effort'.
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School is a Catholic primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at Gap Street (24°07′01″S 148°05′33″E / 24.1170°S 148.0926°E). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 50 students with 7 teachers (6 full-time equivalent) and 6 non-teaching staff (2 full-time equivalent).
There is no secondary education to Year 12 in Springsure; the nearest school offering secondary education to Year 12 is in Emerald.
Notable residents
- John Denis Fryer after whom the Fryer Library at the University of Queensland is named
- John Humphreys, Olympic fencer
- Roy Moore, U.S. judge and Senate candidate, worked on the Telemon cattle station outside town in 1984.
- Keith Slater, Anglican priest in Springsure, later Bishop of Grafton
- Theophilus Wilson, cricketer
Images for kids
-
Presbyterian Church, Springsure, 2006
-
Sisters of Mercy convent, Springsure, sketch by architect Roy Chipps, 1926
-
Sisters of Mercy school, Springsure, sketch by architect Roy Chipps, 1926
-
Springsure Hospital Museum from north, 2009
-
Staircase Range Cutting, near Springsure, Queensland - information sign
-
Staircase Range Cutting, near Springsure, Queensland
-
Staircase Range Cutting, near Springsure, Queensland - detail of hand tooling
.jpg)
