Jundah is a rural town and

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

in the

Shire of Barcoo The Shire of Barcoo is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Central West Queensland, Australia. In June 2018, the shire had a population of 267 people. It covers an area of , and has existed as a local government entity sin ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia. Jundah is the administrative centre of the

Barcoo Shire The Shire of Barcoo is a local government area in Central West Queensland, Australia. In June 2018, the shire had a population of 267 people. It covers an area of , and has existed as a local government entity since 1887. It is named for the ...

local government area. In the , the locality of Jundah had a population of 106 people.

Geography

The town is located on the Thomson River in

Central West Queensland Central West Queensland is a remote region in the Australian state of Queensland which covers 396,650.2 km2. The region lies to the north of South West Queensland and south of the Gulf Country. It has a population of approximately 12,387 peo ...

, west of the state capital,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

History

Kuungkari (also known as Kungkari and Koonkerri) is a language of Western Queensland. The Kuungkari language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of

Longreach Shire Council The Shire of Longreach was a local government area located in central western Queensland, centred on the town of Longreach, from which the shire was administered. It covered an area of , and existed as a local government entity from 1900 until ...

and Blackall-Tambo Shire Council. The outback town was established in 1883 and given a name meaning "woman" in a local Aboriginal language. Jundah was first settled by pastoralists

Patrick Durack Patrick Durack (March 1834 – 20 January 1898) was a pastoral pioneer in Western Australia. His family were struggling tenant farmers from Magherareagh near Scarriff in County Clare, Ireland, who moved from Ireland to New South Wales in 1853. ...

(on

Thylungra Thylungra Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a sheep station in Queensland. Description The property is situated approximately north west of Quilpie and south east of Windorah. Neighbouring properties include the Milo and Budg ...

) and his brother-in-law John Costello (on Kyabra). In 1873, Jundah was acquired by grazier William Pitt Tozer, who built a homestead on the land. From 1875 to 1880 the Jundah homestead was utilised by the paramilitary

Native Police Australian native police units, consisting of Aboriginal troopers under the command (usually) of at least one white officer, existed in various forms in all Australian mainland colonies during the nineteenth and, in some cases, into the twentie ...

as their main barracks on the lower Thomson River. Jundah Post Office opened on 26 June 1877 (a

receiving office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional s ...

named Jundah Police Barracks had been open from 1876). Jundah State School opened on 30 April 1900 with about 50 students. At that time, the town had a population of about 300 people. Jundah was home to an

opal Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silica (SiO2·''n''H2O); its water content may range from 3 to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6 and 10%. Due to its amorphous property, it is classified as a mineraloid, unlike crystalline form ...

mining industry for around twenty years in the early twentieth century before the industry closed down due to water shortages. The Jundah Library opened in 2005. In the , Jundah and surrounds had a population of 350. In the , the locality of Jundah had a population of 106 people.

Heritage listings

Jundah has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Welford Homestead

Economy

Today, the town now supports the surrounding sheep and cattle industry.

Facilities

As well as the Barcoo Shire administration centre, other facilities in the town include a police station, general store, post office agency and a tourist information centre. The Barcoo Shire Council operate Jundah Library at 11 Dickson Street.

Education

Jundah State School is a government primary (Early Childhood-6) school for boys and girls at 11 Garrick Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 6 students with 2 teachers and 5 non-teaching staff (2 full-time equivalent). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 13 students with 2 teachers and 6 non-teaching staff (2 full-time equivalent). There are no secondary schools in Jundah or nearby. The options would be boarding schools or

distance education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...

Attractions

The Barcoo Shire Museum is on the corner of Miles and Macrossan Streets (). The museum is in the former administration centre of the Barcoo Shire Council, relocated to its present location. Roughly 30 km to the south east of the town is

Welford National Park Welford is a national park in Central West Queensland, Australia, 991 km west of Brisbane. It is located 30km to the South-east of Jundah. The park was established in 1994 to protect the biodiversity of the Mulga Lands, Mitchell Grass Downs ...

Events

Each year the town celebrates German-Australian culture by holding "the world's most remote

Oktoberfest The Oktoberfest (; bar, Wiesn, Oktobafest) is the world's largest Volksfest, featuring a beer festival and a travelling carnival. It is held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It is a 16- to 18-day folk festival running from mid- or ...

References

External links

* {{authority control Towns in Queensland Central West Queensland Populated places established in 1883 1883 establishments in Australia Shire of Barcoo Localities in Queensland