Gowrie Junction, Queensland

Gowrie Junction is a rural locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia.[2] It is north-west of Toowoomba. In the 2016 census, Gowrie Junction had a population of 2,120 people.[3] The town of Gowrie is in the eastern part of the locality (27.4994°S 151.8892°E / -27.4994; 151.8892 (Gowrie, Queensland)).[4]

Gowrie Junction
Queensland
Gowrie Junction
Coordinates27°29′31″S 151°53′20″E
Population1,217 (2006 census)[1]
Postcode(s)4352
Location10 km (6 mi) NW of Toowoomba
LGA(s)Toowoomba Region
State electorate(s)Condamine
Federal Division(s)Groom
Suburbs around Gowrie Junction:
Glencoe Cawdor Highfields
Charlton Gowrie Junction Birnam
Charlton Cotswold Hills Birnam

Geography

The Toowoomba Second Range Crossing passes through the southern part of the locality with no intersections.

History

The name Gowrie comes from a pastoral station operated by Henry Hughes and Frederick N. Isaac who used the name from 1847. It is thought to be a corruption of an Aboriginal word ''cowarie'' which might refer either to Gowrie Creek or mean ''freshwater mussel''.[4]

Gowrie Junction Post Office opened on 24 April 1876, was renamed Gowrie in 1961 and closed in 1972.[5]

At the 2006 census, Gowrie Junction had a population of 1,217.[1]

Facilities

Gowrie Junction contains a small shop, a school and a community hall. A shopping centre is also in the planning stages. The residents of Gowrie Junction funded and built the town recreational hall by themselves, largely through the efforts of the local progress association.

Library services in Gowrie Junction are provided by the Toowoomba Regional Council's mobile library service. The van visits Gowrie Junction State School every Thursday and Gowrie Junction Federation Hall every Saturday.[6]

Notable residents

Possibly Gowrie Junction's best known resident remains Frank Riethmuller, born in 1884 in Glenvale outside Toowoomba, who taught at Gowrie Junction's primary school from 1899 to 1905. He probably stayed with his newly married sister, Sophia, whose husband August Bischof had a farm at Gowrie Junction. Riethmuller went on to become Australia's second-best-known rose breeder. He bred 'Carabella,' which is to be seen in country towns all round Australia. One of his pupils was a girl who became Sister Elizabeth Kenny, famous advocate of a non-chemical treatment of poliomyelitis.

References
  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Gowrie Junction (Urban Centre/Locality)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
  2. "Gowrie Junction - locality in Toowoomba Region (entry 49645)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  3. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Gowrie Junction (SSC)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  4. "Gowrie - population centre in the Toowoomba Region (entry 14482)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  5. Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Premier Postal Auctions. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  6. "Mobile library". Toowoomba Regional Council. Archived from the original on 24 October 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.



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