Kabra 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 subdivi ...

in the

Rockhampton Region The Rockhampton Region is a local government area (LGA) in Central Queensland, Australia, located on the Tropic of Capricorn about north of Brisbane. Rockhampton is the region's major city; the region also includes the Fitzroy River, Mount Ar ...

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 Kabra had a population of 421 people. Boongary is a neighbourhood in the south-east of the locality ().

Geography

The town is in the north-east of the locality on the

Capricorn Highway The Capricorn Highway is located in Central Queensland, Australia, and links the city of Rockhampton with western Queensland. The highway is long, and joins the Landsborough Highway at Barcaldine. Formerly National Route 66, Queensland began ...

. Middle Creek passes through the town and Gracemere Creek passes through the rural part of the locality. The

Central Western railway line The Central Western railway line is a railway line in Queensland, Australia. It was opened in a series of sections between 1867 and 1928. It commences at Rockhampton and extends west to Winton. History Following the separation of Queensl ...

passes through the locality from

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of ...

to Winton with the following stations within the locality: * Kabra railway station, serving the town () * Neerkol railway station () The

Dawson Valley railway line The Dawson Valley Branch Railway was a railway line in Central Queensland, Australia. It branched from the Central Western railway line at Kabra in the Rockhampton Region and went via Mount Morgan to Theodore in the Shire of Banana. It op ...

commenced at Kabra railway station and went to

Theodore Theodore may refer to: Places * Theodore, Alabama, United States * Theodore, Australian Capital Territory * Theodore, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Banana, Australia * Theodore, Saskatchewan, Canada * Theodore Reservoir, a lake in Saskatche ...

with the following stations in the locality: * Boongary railway station () *Callan railway station () The Dawson Valley railway line is now closed and its stations abandoned. The locality of Kabra has the following mountains: * Cargoogie Mountain () above sea level * Table Mountain () above sea level The land use is mixed. Housing is not limited to the town area with pockets of rural residential development mainly in the east of the locality. The agricultural use is predominantly grazing on native vegetation but also on modified pastures. There is also some cropping and a number of quarries.

History

In the 1860s, Cargoogie Mountain (or Police Mountain) adjacent to Kabra was an outpost for the

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 twentiet ...

. It served as a depot for troopers and horses, and messages would be communicated from this outpost to the main barracks near Rockhampton via

heliograph A heliograph () is a semaphore system that signals by flashes of sunlight (generally using Morse code) reflected by a mirror. The flashes are produced by momentarily pivoting the mirror, or by interrupting the beam with a shutter. The heliograp ...

or smoke signals. Skeletal remains, some in

manacle Handcuffs are restraint devices designed to secure an individual's wrists in proximity to each other. They comprise two parts, linked together by a chain, a hinge, or rigid bar. Each cuff has a rotating arm which engages with a ratchet th ...

s, were occasionally unearthed when ploughing the fields around the outpost after it had ceased operations. A post office was opened on 7 September 1887; it closed on 31 October 1977. The first stage of the railway line to Mount Morgan (subsequently extended to Theodore) opened on 15 June 1898, branching at Kabra railway station. The Boongary railway station was named by the

Queensland Railways Department Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...

and the name ''Boongarry'' is an Aboriginal word meaning ''tree kangaroo'' and that name also refers to the neighbourhood around the railway station. Land was reserved for a school in Kabra in July 1902 and the Kabra Provisional School opened on 29 October 1902. On 1 January 1909 it became Kabra State School. Due to falling enrolment numbers, the school closed on 23 February 1941; the last teacher was Harry Adolph Barke. On 29 September 1917, an honour board was unveiled at the Kabra railway station, listing men from the district who served in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. It was high and wide and made of polished

silky oak ''Grevillea robusta'', commonly known as the southern silky oak, silk oak or silky oak, silver oak or Australian silver oak, is a flowering plant in the family Proteaceae. It is a tree, the largest species in its genus but is not closely rela ...

. When the railway station closed, the honour board was relocated to the Kabra Hotel where it is now displayed in the dining room. In 2012, Kabra residents began raising concerns about potential health risks associated with an increasing number of

flying foxes ''Pteropus'' (suborder Yinpterochiroptera) is a genus of megabats which are among the largest bats in the world. They are commonly known as fruit bats or flying foxes, among other colloquial names. They live in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Austr ...

roosting in the town. A colony of 15,000 flying foxes were living in the town's bloodwood trees.

Rockhampton Regional Council The Rockhampton Region is a local government area (LGA) in Central Queensland, Australia, located on the Tropic of Capricorn about north of Brisbane. Rockhampton is the region's major city; the region also includes the Fitzroy River, Queenslan ...

told residents the flying fox colony in the town would only be temporary as between 95% and 99% of the colony were identified as transient

little red flying fox The little red flying-fox (''Pteropus scapulatus'') is a megachiropteran bat native to northern and eastern Australia. The species weighs about half a kilogram, one US pound, and is the smallest species of '' Pteropus'' in mainland Australia. ...

es which were expected to move on after a short period. However, the flying foxes were still an issue for Kabra in 2014 when more than 40,000 bats were roosting in the town, prompting much discussion in the local media. In June 2014, the council received approval from the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection to modify local vegetation at Kabra, removing a number of trees and replacing them with native species which would be less appealing to flying foxes. In January 2013, Kabra was impacted by flash flooding caused by the torrential rain brought the region from ex-

Cyclone Oswald Tropical Cyclone Oswald in 2013 was a tropical cyclone that passed over parts of Queensland and New South Wales, Australia over a number of days, causing widespread impact including severe storms, flooding, and water spouts. Coastal regions ...

. Seven people were evacuated from Kabra by emergency services. Kabra was also affected by the

2018 Central Queensland bushfires The 2018 Central Queensland bushfires were a series of 1,250 bushfires which ignited and moved across areas of the Central Queensland region of Australia in November and December 2018, during the 2018-19 Australian bushfire season. Palaszczuk, ...

in November 2018 when a fast moving fire front travelled through the town as it headed towards Gracemere, completely destroying one home. In the 2011 census, Kabra had a population of 472 people. In the the locality of Kabra had a population of 421 people.

Education

There are no schools in Kabra. The nearest primary schools are Waraburra State School in neighbouring Gracemere to the east, Gracemere State School also in Gracemere, Bouldercombe State School in neighbouring Bouldercombe to the south, and Stanwell State School in neighbouring

Stanwell Stanwell is a village close to two of the three main towns in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, about west of central London. A small corner of its land is vital industrial land serving Heathrow Airport – most of the rest is residentia ...

to the west. The nearest government secondary schools are

Rockhampton State High School Rockhampton State High School is a coeducational public secondary school located in Wandal, a suburb of Rockhampton in Queensland, Australia. The school has a total enrolment of more than 1000 students, with an official count of 1119 students ...

in Wandal in

to the north-east and

Mount Morgan State High School Mount Morgan State High School is a heritage-listed state high school and technical college at 4 Central Street, Mount Morgan, Rockhampton Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1908. It was formerly known as Mount Morgan Technical C ...

in Mount Morgan to the south-west.

Attractions

Kabra is a major waypoint on the

National Bicentennial Trail The Bicentennial National Trail (BNT), originally known as the National Horse Trail, is one of the longest multi-use, non-motorised, self-reliant trails in the world, stretching 5,330 kilometres from Cooktown, Queensland, through New South W ...

. The town is also known for its regular mud racing events.

References

External links

* {{authority control Towns in Queensland Suburbs of Rockhampton Region Localities in Queensland