Cloncurry is the administrative centre of the Shire of Cloncurry.
Cloncurry is known as the Friendly Heart of the Great North West and celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2017.[6][7]
Cloncurry was recognised for its liveability, winning the Queensland's Friendliest Town award twice by environmental movement Keep Queensland Beautiful, first in 2013 and again in 2018.[8][9]
The first Europeans to traverse these tribal lands of peoples such as the Maithakari and the Wanamara,[citation needed] were Burke and Wills on their epic, and ultimately fatal, transcontinental expedition. The Cloncurry River was named by Burke after Lady Elizabeth Cloncurry, his cousin, with the town eventually taking its name from the river.
Ernest Henry discovered copper in the area in 1867,[12] and the town sprang up to service the Great Australia Mine to the south. Roger Sheaffe established the first pastoral run in the Cloncurry district - "Fort Constantine".[13] Gold was discovered at Top Camp.[14]
The town was surveyed in 1876.[15] Cloncurry was proclaimed a town in 1884.
Cloncurry Provisional School opened on 19 March 1884. In 1894 it became Cloncurry State School.[16]
Front page of the Cloncurry Advocate Saturday 17 January 1931
In 1914 a fire broke out in the town resulting in the destruction of the Post Office, the hotel, eleven shops, two store-rooms and a cottage. The telegraph office was saved by employees who kept the office damp and protected with wet blankets. One man died in the blaze which cost an estimated £15,000.[19]
From 1915 to 1931 the Australian Inland Mission (part of the Presbyterian Church) operated its North West Patrol in Cloncurry which provided religious services to people in remote areas by driving through the Outback; the service later operated from Mount Isa. A similar service, the Federal Methodist Inland Mission Patrol commenced was established in 1928 at its Gulf Mission Base in Camooweal. The amalgamation of the Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregational churches in 1977 to form the Uniting Church in Australia intended to combine these outback services, creating a huge North West Patrol area to be covered which could not be achieved by road transport, so the Cloncurry congregation purchased an aircraft in 1976 to provide the patrol service out of Cloncurry by air wherever possible, using road travel only to access places that did not have suitable airstrips. In the early 1990s the service was renamed the McKay Patrol to honour Reverend Fred McKay, an early patrol padre who had been involved in establishing the Royal Flying Doctor Service.[20]
During World War II, Cloncurry was the location of RAAF No.23 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot (IAFD), completed in 1942 and closed on 14 August 1944. Usually consisting of 4 tanks, 31 fuel depots were built across Australia for the storage and supply of aircraft fuel for the RAAF and the US Army Air Forces at a total cost of £900,000 ($1,800,000).[21]
The discovery of uranium at Mary Kathleen brought wealth to the community in the 1950s.[15] Until the development of Mount Isa in the 1960s, Cloncurry was the administrative centre of the region.[15]
The population in Cloncurry decreased from 3,898 in 1996 to 2,900 in 2002.[6] It declined further to 2,719 by 2016.[22]
The Cloncurry Bob McDonald Library opened in 2012.[23][24]
In the 2016 census, the locality of Cloncurry had a population of 2,719 people.[22]
It was announced on 11 February 2021 that Cloncurry had been chosen as the production location of the 2021 edition of Network 10's reality game showAustralian Survivor.[25] The domestic location resulted from concerns regarding international travel during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was filmed in Cloncurry from 22 April to 8 June 2021, with the season airing on 18 July 2021.[26]
In the 2021 census, the locality of Cloncurry had a population of 3,167 people.[1]
Cloncurry State School is a government primary and secondary (Prep–12) school for boys and girls at Daintree Street (20°42′15″S140°30′20″E / 20.7042°S 140.5056°E / -20.7042; 140.5056 (Cloncurry State School P-12)).[30][31] In 2015 the school had 281 students enrolled with a teaching staff of 28 FTE (Full-time equivalent) and 15 FTE (Full-time equivalent) non teaching staff. The general population in the community is highly transient with approximately 40% turnover in student enrolment in 2015. Approximately 60% of student enrolment identify as Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander.[32] In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 277 students with 32 teachers and 18 non-teaching staff (14 full-time equivalent).[33] It includes a special education program.[30]
The Cloncurry branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association has its rooms at Charlotte Scott House in Scarr Street.[37] Charlotte Scott was a dedicated member of the Cloncurry QCWA who died in 1992 having spent most of her life in Cloncurry. She was well known for her dancing, especially the Charleston.[38]
Association Footballer Kasey Wehrman was born in Cloncurry (16 August 1977). He went on to play domestically and in Scandinavia. His achievements include winning a NSL Championship in 1996–1997 with the Brisbane Strikers and being capped several times with the Australian National Team.
Politician Bob Katter was born in Cloncurry in 1945.[43]
Cloncurry has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen:BShTrewartha:BShb) with two distinct seasons. There is a very hot, moderately humid and quite uncomfortable wet season from December to March and a warm to hot, generally rainless dry season usually extending from April to November. Until the 1990s, Cloncurry was widely regarded as holding the record for the highest temperature recorded in Australia at 53.1 °C (127.5 °F) on 16 January 1889.[45] Investigations published in 1997 revealed that this temperature was measured in an improvised screen made from a beer crate and that it equated to 47–49 °C (117–120 °F) under standard conditions.[46][47] The highest temperature ever recorded at Cloncurry's current weather station is 46.9 °C (116.4 °F),[48] well short of the now widely disputed 1889 temperature of 53.1 °C (127.6 °F). The average annual rainfall is 584.5 mm (23.01 in), almost all of which falls In the months of December to March
Because of the area's extreme solar conditions, Cloncurry was expected to become Australia's first solar-powered town.[49] However the planned 10MW Thermal solar plant was scrapped due to light pollution concerns[50] and a 2.128MW flat panel photovoltaicsolar farm was to be built in its place. However, the Queensland Government withdrew financial support for the solar farm in May 2012.[51]
Climate data for Cloncurry Airport, Queensland, Australia (1991-2020 normals, extremes 1978-present); 186 m AMSL
Cloncurry has linkages to other destinations via major coach operators such as Greyhound and Bus Queensland. A weekday service to Mount Isa is operated by Cloncurry Coaches as well as local charter services within the area for mining, school, sporting bodies and special events.
^ ab"Cloncurry". Centre for the Government of Queensland. Archived from the original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
^"Cloncurry Bob McDonald Library". Public Libraries Connect. State Library of Queensland. 22 April 2014. Archived from the original on 30 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
^IAN CASTLES (November 1994). "Extreme Maximum Temperatures"(PDF). Year Book Australia 1995. CANBERRA: AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS (77): 13. ISSN0810-8633. Retrieved 1 September 2023. the highest temperature recorded in Australia was 53.1°C at Cloncurry (Queensland)
