The historic goldrush town of Croydon is located in the heart of the Gulf Savannah, 529 kilometres (329 mi) west of Cairns.[9] Mining in the area quickly drove out the Tagalaka people indigenous to the area.[citation needed] Croydon was a large pastoral holding owned by Alexander Brown and Margaret Chalmers that covered an area of approximately 5,000 square kilometres (2,000 sq mi), when first settled in the 1880s. The town's name is derived from a pastoral run name, that was used by their sons, Alexander Brown and William Chalmers Brown, pastoralists; William Chalmers Brown was born in Croydon, England in 1841 and is buried at Toowong cemetery in Brisbane.[3][4][10] Gold was discovered in 1885 and by 1887, the town's population had reached 7,000. Croydon Post Office opened on 20 March 1886.[11]
Croydon State School was established on 12 September 1889 but did not open until 7 July 1890.[12][13]
Gold was to be the main economic production of the area for four decades. The Mining Warden left in 1926 as there were too few miners left on the field. During its heyday, Croydon was the fourth largest town in the colony of Queensland.
In 1917, Dr. Elkington, Director of the Division of Tropical Hygiene, Commonwealth Department of Health, was concerned about health and hygiene of its growing population, contemplated conducting a statistical and social survey of the town, which did not eventuate. Elkington's interest in sociological surveys of gathering social and economic details on a population later developed into the 1924 Sociological Survey of White Women conducted from the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Townsville.[14]
Currently, Croydon has a much smaller population, having greatly decreased following the end of the gold rush. The population is now a few hundred people. The town is one of the termini for the Gulflander railway, opened for the gold rush in 1891 but now a tourist railway operated by Traveltrain. In early 2009, the close proximity of a receding cyclone ex-Cyclone Charlotte, caused torrential rain and Croydon to be flooded.[15] An estimated $5 million of damage was made to town infrastructure.[16]
Demographics
At the 2011 census, Croydon and surrounding area recorded a population of 312 people.[17]
At the 2016 census, the locality of Croydon had a population of 258 people.[1]
Heritage listings
The heritage listed Croydon Town Hall, built in 1892
Croydon State School is a government primary (Early Childhood to Year 6) school for boys and girls at 22–30 Brown Street (18°12′13″S142°14′57″E / 18.2037°S 142.2493°E / -18.2037; 142.2493 (Croydon State School)).[33][34] In 2014, the school had 42 students enrolled with 2 classes (years P–3 and years 4–6) with 3 teachers.[35] In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 36 students with 3 teachers and 7 non-teaching staff (3 full-time equivalent).[36]
Facilities
Croydon has a swimming pool, golf course, lawn bowls, a museum, a tourist information centre, caravan park and a primary school.[37] The Croydon Shire Council operates a public library at 63 Samwell Street.[38]
St Margaret's Church at Lot 9, Alldridge Street is shared by the Anglican and Catholic congregations. It is within the Gulf Savannah Parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns.[40]
^"Croydon". Centre for the Government of Queensland. Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
^"Croydon Library". Public Libraries Connect. State Library of Queensland. 31 August 2016. Archived from the original on 17 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
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