St Lawrence 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

Isaac Region The Isaac Region is a local government area located in Central Queensland, Queensland, Australia created in March 2008 as a result of the report of the Local Government Reform Commission released in July 2007. In the , the Isaac Region had a po ...

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 St Lawrence had a population of 245 people.

Geography

St Lawrence is located north of

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 ...

and off the

Bruce Highway The Bruce Highway is a major highway in Queensland, Australia. Commencing in the state capital, Brisbane, it passes through areas close to the eastern coast on its way to Cairns in Far North Queensland. The route is part of the Australian Natio ...

.The town is located south of St Lawrence Creek, which flows into a vast bay known as Broad Sound, a waterway noted for its large tidal range (up to in the summer). The North Coast railway line passes through the town, which is served by St Lawrence railway station. Newport is a neighbourhood within the locality, about south-east of the town ().

Climate

History

St Lawrence is located on Koinmerburra Country; the Custodians of this land are the Koinjmal People. British settlement in the area began circa 1860 when John Arthur Macartney established Waverley pastoral station. The township of St Lawrence was originally established to maintain the Customs Office for the Port of St Lawrence. It takes its name from one of the blocks on the Waverley pastoral station. The St Lawrence State School opened on 28 May 1871. Anglican services were held quarterly in the St Lawrence Courthouse (now the St Lawrence Police Station) until the opening of the meatworks in 1893 attracted sufficient residents to establish a church. In March 1898, Vicar Arthur Henry Julius purchased of land at the end of Macartney Street (the main street through the town) where he said the church would be "conspicuous". The foundation block for Christ Church Anglican was laid on Saturday 21 May 1898 by Thomas Byrnes, the new

Queensland Premier The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is appointed ...

(and Queensland's first

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Premier). The church was designed by

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...

architect, Alfred Mowbray Hutton, to seat around 100 people with a classroom for Sunday School and a bedroom for visiting clergy. The contractors were Newman Bros of Rockhampton. The St Lawrence Library opened in 2001. St Lawrence was the administrative centre of the

Shire of Broadsound Shire of Broadsound was a Local government in Australia, local government area in the Capricornia, Queensland, Capricornia region of Queensland, Australia. The Shire, administered from the town of St Lawrence, Queensland, St Lawrence, covered an ...

until 2008, when the shire was amalgamated with the Shire of Belyando and the

Shire of Nebo The Shire of Nebo was a local government area in Central Queensland, Queensland, Australia, about south-west of the regional city of Mackay. The Shire, administered from the town of Nebo, covered an area of , and existed as a local government ...

to form the Isaac Region local government area.

Moranbah Moranbah is a coal mining town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Isaac Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Moranbah had a population of 9,425. In addition to the permanent population, Moranbah also has ...

is the administrative centre of the new region but the former Broadsound Shire offices at 36 Macartney Street are still used as the local offices of the Isaac Regional Council. The building was described in 2004 as "a disarmingly elegant building which seems quite out of place in this otherwise undistinguished town". Once a prosperous port town, exporting cattle from the hinterland, in 2019, many residents were

DIDO Dido ( ; , ), also known as Elissa ( , ), was the legendary founder and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage (located in Tunisia), in 814 BC. In most accounts, she was the queen of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre (located ...

coal miners.

Demographics

In the , the locality of St Lawrence and the surrounding area had a population of 195 people. In the , the locality of St Lawrence had a population of 396 people. In the , the locality of St Lawrence had a population of 235 people. In the , the locality of St Lawrence had a population of 245 people.

Heritage listings

St Lawrence has a number of

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and human-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In ma ...

sites, including: * Cannon Street: Christ Church Anglican Church * Macartney Street: St Lawrence Police Station * Settlement Road: Meatworks and Wharf Site

Education

St Lawrence State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at Macartney Street (). In 2015, it had an enrolment of 10 students with 2 teachers (1 equivalent full-time). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 9 students with 2 teachers (1 full-time equivalent) and 6 non-teaching staff (2 full-time equivalent). The school motto is 'Knowledge, Truth, Honesty'. The original school was opened on 28 May 1871 but it was completely destroyed by a cyclone on 22 January 1874 and had to be rebuilt. A new school building was officially opened on 17 June 1938. The school was completely destroyed by fire on 30 October 2007. A mobile classroom was transported from Brisbane as the school's permanent replacement. A wishing well handcrafted by Jack Dempsey was installed at the site and dedicated in 2008 in remembrance of the previous school building. St Lawrence State School celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2021. There is no secondary school in St Lawrence nor nearby.

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 are options.

Amenities

The Isaac Regional Council operates a public library at 22 Railway Parade (). Christ Church Anglican is on Cannon Street at the junction with Macartney Street (). It is part of the Parish of North Rockhampton (also known as the All Saints Anglican Community) within the

Anglican Church of Central Queensland The Diocese of Rockhampton (also known as Anglican Church Central Queensland) is a diocese of the Anglican Church of Australia, founded in 1892. It is situated in the central part of the state of Queensland, Australia. It is part of the Provinc ...

Events

Each June, an annual eco festival called "Wetlands Weekend" is held in St Lawrence to celebrate the

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

s and local produce. First held in 2008 to raise awareness of the importance of

wetland conservation Wetland conservation is aimed at protecting and preserving areas of land including marshes, swamps, bogs, anfensthat are covered by water seasonally or permanently due to a variety of threats from both natural and Anthropogenic hazard, anthropoge ...

, the event incorporates various cultural activities, workshops, environmental art, musical performances as well as a 'Welcome to Wetlands' evening, a 'farm to plate' seafood lunch and a bush dinner. There are also celebrity appearances from personalities such as ''

Gardening Australia ''Gardening Australia'' is an Australian lifestyle television program which suggests and promotes organic and environmentally friendly ways of gardening. It is created by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and airs on ABC TV, in an ho ...

'' presenter Costa Georgiadis and

celebrity chef A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and radio, or in Books, printed publications. While telev ...

Matt Golinski. Isaac Regional Council credited the 2019 event for adding $121,000 to the local economy.

Gallery

File:Stlawrenceriverlowtide.JPG, St Lawrence River - low tide File:Stlawrenceriverlowtide2.jpg, St Lawrence River - across the park File:Stlawrence_birdwatching.jpg, St Lawrence - Bird watching

References

External links

* *
BOM : Summary statistics : St Lawrence Post Office
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Lawrence, Queensland Towns in Queensland Coastal towns in Queensland Central Queensland Isaac Region Localities in Queensland