Normanton is in the Gulf Country region of northwest Queensland, just south of the Gulf of Carpentaria, on the Norman River in Queensland. It is a small cattle town and coastal locality, and administrative centre of the Shire of Carpentaria.[5][6][7]
An unusual feature 106 kilometres (66 mi) southwest of Normanton is Bang Bang Jump Up, one of the few hills located in the middle of an expansive, flat grassland.[9]
History
The town sits in the traditional lands of the Gkuthaarn (Kareldi) and Kukatj people.[10]
An expedition to explore the Norman River and Bynoe River leading to the identification of a new town site on the Norman River in May 1867.[7][11][12] The new town of Norman was surveyed by George Phillips in December 1867 and was officially gazetted on 8 August 1868.[2][13] It was seen as an alternative to Burketown which had issues with fever and flooding.[11] On 11 October 1868 the first land sale of 167 town lots of 1⁄4 and 1⁄2 acre (0.10 and 0.20 ha) was held at the Norman Police Office.[14]
Norman River Post Office opened on 13 June 1868 and was renamed Normanton by 1872.[15]
Normanton State School opened in September 1882.[16] In January 1976 a secondary department was added to the school.[17] The school celebrated its centenary in 1982.[18]
The Burns Philp store, a general mercantile store and agency office, was opened in 1884. It is the oldest intact Burns Philp store in Queensland.[19]
Normanton grew slowly until the discovery of gold at Croydon in 1885[20] provided a major boost, attracting people from a variety of cultures, including Chinese people drawn to the gold fields.[7] The town prosperity was assisted by the completion of the Normanton – Croydon railway in 1889 which saw Normanton becoming the acknowledged gateway to north-western Queensland. The new link was to bring both people and wealth to the area.[20][21]
Old Customs House, Normanton, ca. 1913. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.
The population reached 1,251 by 1891.[22] The gold boom at Croydon was short-lived and the completion of the Townsville – Cloncurry railway in 1908, reduced Normanton's relative importance as a centre.[20] After the gold ran out and the mining industry grew to a halt in the early 1900s, pastoralism became the main industry of the region.[21]
Some Aboriginal groups in the region were moved on to cattle stations to provide labour, while other groups were more or less extinguished. Many were moved to missions on Mornington Island and Doomadgee. Aboriginal camps were set up on the outskirts of the town, and the first Aboriginal reserve was gazetted in 1935; both were still in existence until at least 1976.[21]
By 1947 the town's population had declined to 234.[22]
In the 1960s there was a resurgence in Normanton's population as a gateway to the Gulf of Carpentaria with major industrial development taking place in the prawn fishing industry at nearby Karumba at the mouth of the Norman River.[20]
In 2006 census, the town's population was 1,100, with 60% identifying as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people.[27]
In the 2016 census, the locality of Normanton had a population of 1,257 people, of whom 750 (60%) identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people,[28] while the town of Normanton had a population of 1,210 people, of whom 743 (62%) identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people.[29]
In the 2021 census, the locality of Normanton had a population of 1,391 people, of whom 774 (55.6%) identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people.[1] The town of Normanton had a population of 1,326 people, of whom 766 (57.8%) identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people.[4]
After seeking rights since 1996, in November 2012 the traditional owners, the Gkuthaarn and Kukatj people, lodged a claim for native title over an area around Normanton stretching 16,000 square kilometres (6,200 sq mi). On 2 July 2020 an Indigenous land use agreement was signed,[31] and they were granted rights to fish, hunt and perform their ceremonies on the land. Pastoralists are still able to run cattle on the cattle stations in the area, and the Aboriginal people assist with management of the land (such as pest and weed control) and cultural heritage sites. They are already monitoring and counting of migratory seabirds, with many participating as Indigenous rangers in the Normanton Land and Sea Ranger Group. Some land in the southern part of the claimed area has been determined as "native title extinguished".[10][32]
Normanton has a tropical savanna climate (KöppenAw) with two distinct seasons. There is a hot, humid and extremely uncomfortable wet season from December to March and a hot and generally rainless dry season usually extending from April to November. During the wet season most roads in the area are usually closed by heavy rainfall, which on several occasions has exceeded 650 millimetres (26 in) in a month or 250 millimetres (10 in) in a day from tropical cyclones. On occasions, as with all of Queensland, the wet season may fail and deliver as little as 240 millimetres (9.4 in) between December 1934 and March 1935[40]
Temperatures are uniformly hot, ranging from 36.8 °C (98 °F) in November just before the wet season begins to 29 °C (84 °F) at the height of the dry season in July. In the wet season, temperatures are marginally lower, but extremely high humidity means conditions are very uncomfortable and wet bulb temperatures averages 25 °C (77 °F) and can reach 28 °C (82 °F). In the dry season, lower humidity, cloudless days and cool nights provides for more pleasant conditions.
Climate data for Normanton Post Office, Queensland
Tourism has recently become an important part of the economy of Normanton, with the Gulflander a significant draw-card.[22]
Among Normanton's most notable features is a statue of an 8.64-metre (28.3 ft) long saltwater crocodile named Krys, the largest ever taken, which was shot by Krystina Pawlowska in July 1957 in the Norman River.[43][44]
"The Big Barramundi" was constructed in 1995. It is 6 metres (20 ft) long.[45][46]
There are a number of reminders of Normanton's history and development that visitors to the area are still able to see today. These include the Normanton cemetery which dates from 1867, the railway station and the station building both dating from 1891, as well as the former Burns Philp & Co. store.[48]
There is no secondary education to Year 12 available in or nearby Normanton.[8] The options are distance education and boarding schools. Many of the students of Gulf Christian College attend Senior (10-12) School at Nambour Christian College.[54]
Normanton public library and visitor information services are located in the historic Burns Philp Building at the corner of Caroline and Landsborough Streets.[69]
The Gulflander passenger train operates weekly on a 151 km (94 mi) remnant of the Normanton to Croydon historical railway. The Normanton railway station features a large steel frame with an open canopy to provide shade.[13]
^"BURKETOWN". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. XXII, no. 3, 032. Queensland, Australia. 29 June 1867. p. 6. Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"GOVERNMENT LANDS FOR SALE". The Queenslander. Vol. III, no. 130. Queensland, Australia. 1 August 1868. p. 11. Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^O'Neill, Brian W; Normanton State School, A unique school in the Gulf : a study of the influence of the pastoral and mining industries on education in the Gulf, with particular reference to Normanton / compiled by Brian W. O'Neill, W.J. & J.M. O'Neill
^ abc"The History". Southern Gulf Natural Resource Management. 20 April 2016. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
^ abc"Travel: Normanton". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. 8 February 2004. Archived from the original on 31 May 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
