Adavale is a rural town and locality in the

Shire of Quilpie The Shire of Quilpie is a local government area in South West Queensland, Australia. It covers an area of , and its administrative centre is the town of Quilpie. The dominant industry is grazing. Opal fields are also worked within the shire ...

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 , established_ ...

, Australia. In the , the locality of Adavale had a population of 93 people.

Geography

Adavale is in

South West Queensland South West Queensland is a remote region in the Australian state of Queensland which covers . The region lies to the south of Central West Queensland and west of the Darling Downs and includes the Maranoa district and parts of the Channel Countr ...

, west of the state capital,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. Between Adavale and

Yaraka Yaraka is a rural town and locality in the Longreach Region of Queensland, Australia. Until 2021, the town of Yaraka was part of the locality of Isisford. Geography Yaraka is in Central West Queensland, Australia. It was the terminus of a Yara ...

Yapunyah waterhole Yapunyah Waterhole lies in the Mulga Lands bioregion of western Queensland. The waterhole is about two kilometres long and covers approximately 22 hectares when full. It is defined as a permanent waterhole in a region where permanent waterholes ...

. The town is only accessible along a

gravel road A gravel road is a type of unpaved road surfaced with gravel that has been brought to the site from a quarry or stream bed. They are common in less-developed nations, and also in the rural areas of developed nations such as Canada and the Uni ...

from Charleville in the east,

Quilpie Quilpie ( ) is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Quilpie, Queensland, Australia. In the , Quilpie had a population of 595 people. The town is the administrative centre of the Quilpie Shire local government area. The town of Toompine is ...

in the south and Blackall in the north.

History

StateLibQld 1 177143 Stagecoach outside Adavale Post Office, 1907

StateLibQld 1 118076 Patrons of the Green Gate Hotel on the verandah, Adavale, 1928

The town is named after Ada Constance Stevens (wife of

Ernest James Stevens Ernest James Stevens (10 July 18453 March 1922) was an Australian politician and businessman who served as a Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly and later Member of the Queensland Legislative Council in colonial Queensland and Austral ...

). The Stevens family had the Tintinchilla (later Milo) pastoral run in the area. There is a story that Ada lost her hat veil where the Milo road crosses Blackwater Creek. Town and suburban lots in the town of Adavale were sold on 9 February 1881 at Charleville. Adavale Post Office opened on 1 January 1881 and closed in 1991. Milo Station Provisional School opened circa 1888 and closed circa 1891. It reopened as Milo Provision School circa 1902 and closed circa 1905. Adavale Provisional School opened on 8 October 1888. On 1 January 1909 it became Adavale State School. It closed on 31 December 1968. The school was on Nelson Street (). From 1889 to 1930, Adavale was the seat of local government, initially called

Adavale Division The Shire of Adavale is a former local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision o ...

and later the Shire of Adavale. The town was a thriving centre but, in 1917 the Western railway line did not come to the town as expected but passed further to the south where the new town of Quilpie was created along the railway line, and soon became the major town in the region while Adavale diminished. In 1930 it was decided that the seat of local government should move from Adavale to Quilpie and the Shire of Adavale was renamed the

. At the , Adavale and the surrounding area had a population of 141, with the town itself having an estimated population of around 15. In the , the locality of Adavale had a population of 93 people.

References

External links

* {{authority control Towns in Queensland South West Queensland Populated places established in 1880 1880 establishments in Australia Shire of Quilpie Localities in Queensland