Smithlea is a rural

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

Goondiwindi Region The Goondiwindi Region is a local government area located in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia along the state's border with New South Wales. Established in 2008, it was preceded by three previous local government areas which dat ...

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. It is on the Queensland border with

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. In the , Smithlea had a population of 41 people.

Geography

The

Dumaresq River The Dumaresq River ( Indigenous ) is a perennial stream of the Macintyre catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Northern Tablelands and North West Slopes regions of New South Wales and the Darling Downs region of Que ...

forms the southern and western boundary of the locality and is the border between Queensland and New South Wales. Texas–Yelarbon Road enters the locality from the south-east (

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

) and runs through the south and then west of the locality loosely parallel to the river before exiting to the north-west ( Beebo). The land use is predominantly

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to free range (roam around) and consume wild vegetations in order to feed conversion ratio, convert the otherwise indigestible (by human diges ...

on native vegetation with some crop growing in areas close to the river.

History

Smithfield Provisional School opened on 7 May 1900, becoming Smithfield State School on 1 January 1909. It closed in 1964. It was at approx 1381 Texas Yelarbon Road (). A branch railway line from

Inglewood Inglewood may refer to: Places Australia *Inglewood, Queensland * Shire of Inglewood, Queensland, a former local government area *Inglewood, South Australia *Inglewood, Victoria *Inglewood, Western Australia Canada * Inglewood, Ontario *Inglewoo ...

via the Smithlea area was approved in1914. Howvever, construction did not begin until February 1929 with the jobs created being sought by many hundreds of men out of work due to the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. The

Texas railway line The Texas railway line is a disused branch railway of the South Western railway line in the south of the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia, and was the last traditional branch line railway constructed in Queensland. The McDougall ...

was officially opened on Monday 10 November 1930 by

Godfrey Morgan ''Godfrey Morgan: A Californian Mystery'' (, literally ''The School for Robinsons''), also published as ''School for Crusoes'', is an 1882 adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne. The novel tells of a wealthy young man, Godfrey Morgan, who, ...

, the Queensland Minister for Railways. The Smithlea area was served by the Mundoey railway siding (), which opened in September 1930. It takes its name from the nearby Waddy Mundoey Creek, which is an Aboriginal name describing a European man with a wooden leg. By 1963, passenger services on the railway line had ceased. Regular services were withdrawn in 1985 being replaced by motor truck. The line closed on 1 January 1994 and is retained by

Queensland Rail Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Queensland Rail is owned by the Queensland Government, and operates both Commuter rail, suburban and Regional rail, interurban rail services in South East Queensland, as well ...

as a non-operational corridor. The track was left in place but other facilities were removed.

Demographics

In the , Smithlea had a population of 47 people. In the , Smithlea had a population of 41 people.

Education

There are no schools in Smithlea. The nearest government primary and secondary school is Texas State School (Prep to Year 10) in neighbouring

to the south-east. There are no secondary schools providing education to Year 12 neaby; the alternatives are

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 ...

and boarding school.

References

{{Goondiwindi Region Goondiwindi Region Localities in Queensland