Meandarra is a rural town and

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

in the

Western Downs Region Western Downs Region is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Queensland, Australia. The Western Downs Regional Council manages an area of , which is slightly smaller than Switzerland, although with a population of 34,467 ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. In the , the locality of Meandarra had a population of 244 people.

Geography

The town is located on Brigalow Creek, west of the state capital,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. The former town of Undulla is in the north-east of the locality (). The Glenmorgan railway line enters the locality from the east and terminates at the Meandarra railway station immediately north of the town ().

History

First surveyed in 1912 by surveyor John Daveney Steele, the town derived its name from a pastoral run first used by pastoralist

Archibald Meston Archibald Meston (26 March 1851 – 11 March 1924) was an Australian politician, civil servant, journalist, naturalist and explorer. Personal life Archibald Meston was born at Towie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the son of Alexander Meston. Mest ...

on 16 October 1867. Cooroorah Provisional School opened in 1913 and closed on 1919. After a temporary closure in 1915, it closed permanently 1919. Its location was "via Meandarra". Meandarra State School opened on 27 September 1915. Kinkabilla Provisional School opened on 1921 and closed circa 1934. Its location was "via Meandarra". Meandarra Post Office opened on 1 January 1928 (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 serv ...

was open from 1910 until 1918). On 21 June 1953, St Margaret Mary Catholic Church was officially opened and dedicated by the

Vicar Capitular A diocesan administrator (also known as archdiocesan administrator, archiepiscopal administrator and eparchial administrator for the case, respectively, of an archdiocese, archeparchy, and eparchy) is a provisional ordinary of a Catholic part ...

of Roman Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba Michael Morrissey McKenna. It was the first church in Meandarra. St Augustine's Anglican Church opened in 1955. The Meandarra Public Library building opened in 1993. Meandarra Assembly of God Church was established in 1995. It later renamed itself as the Country Hope Church. The Meandarra ANZAC Memorial Museum was opened in 2009. The Glenmorgan railway line was closed beyond Meandarra to Block Trains on 26 June 2013, making Meandarra the terminus. the line beyond Meandarra is "booked out of use" as of 2022

Demographics

In the , the locality of Meandarra and the surrounding area had a population of 341 people. In the , the locality of Meandarra had a population of 262 people. In the , the locality of Meandarra had a population of 244 people.

Education

Meandarra State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls in Sara Street (). In 2016, the school had an enrolment of 37 students with 4 teachers (3 full-time equivalent) and 5 non-teaching staff (3 full-time equivalent). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 41 students with 5 teachers (3 full-time equivalent) and 6 non-teaching staff (3 full-time equivalent). There are no secondary schools in Meandarra. The nearest secondary school is Tara Shire State College in Tara to the east, but it is a considerable distance for a daily commute and other options would be

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

or boarding school.

Amenities

The Western Downs Regional Council operates the Meandarra Library on Sara Street. St Augustine's Anglican Church is on the north-west corner of Sara Street and Maude Street (). St Margaret Mary Catholic Church is at 16 Walton Street (). It is part of the St Mary of the Angels' Parish of Tara. The Country Hope Church (also known as the Meandarra Assembly of God Church) is on the north-west corner of Sara Street and Gibson Street (). The Meandarra/Glenmorgan Lutheran congregation holds their services in the Glenmorgan Community Church. The Royal Hotel operates on Sara Street.

Attractions

Meandarra ANZAC Memorial Museum is in Sara Street (). It contains a large collection of

ANZAC The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was originally a First World War army corps of the British Empire under the command of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated during the ...

memorabilia including a Canberra bomber and a

German U-boat U-boats are naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the First and Second World Wars. The term is an anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the German term refers to any submarine. Austro-Hungarian Nav ...

engine.

References

External links

* {{authority control Towns in Queensland Western Downs Region Localities in Queensland