Miles, Queensland

The town is on the Warrego Highway, 340 kilometres (210 mi) west of Brisbane, the state capital.

Formerly known as Dogwood Crossing, the town is situated on Dogwood Creek, named by German explorer Ludwig Leichhardt in 1844. The town was renamed Miles in honour of the Queensland Colonial Secretary, William Miles.[3][4] Miles Post Office opened on 3 January 1878.[5]

Miles Provisional School opened on 31 May 1880, becoming Miles State School on 18 January 1886.[6]

Holy Cross School opened in 1926. It closed on 15 December 1989.[6]

Miles War Memorial and Wall of Remembrance, 2008

The Miles War Memorial and Wall of Remembrance was erected by the Murilla Shire Council and dedicated on 25 April 1967.[7]

Miles State High School opened on 30 January 1979.[6]

Miles Library facility opened in 2002.[8]

At the 2011 census, Miles had a population of 1,170.[9]

Welcome to Miles signpost

The economy of Miles is based mainly on agriculture and cropping, producing wheat, sorghum, barley and cotton. Timber production is another area of economic activity and in common with much of Western Queensland, cattle and sheep grazing, including feedlots is widespread.

A mining industry utilising rich deposits of bentonite clay is developing.[10]

In addition, there are the following developing industries:

• Coal seam gas
• coal mining
• electricity generation

Miles is connected to Brisbane, Toowoomba and Roma by the Warrego Highway and Goondiwindi and Rockhampton by the Leichhardt Highway. Greyhound Australia operates 3 daily bus services between Brisbane and Mount Isa via Longreach and Charleville, and Coach QLD operates three buses a week between Toowoomba and Rockhampton, via Miles. The Westlander train also comes through Miles twice a week, on its way between Brisbane and Charleville, at very early hours of Wednesday & Friday mornings (westbound) and Thursdays & Saturdays (Eastbound).

The town is served by the Miles Airport (IATA: WLE) which is located along the Leichhardt Highway approximately 19 km (12 mi) south of the Leichhardt and Warrego Highway intersection, Miles, Queensland, and 14 km (8.7 mi) north of the Leichhardt Highway and Roma-Condamine Road intersection, Condamine, Queensland.

Miles State School is a government co-educational primary (P-6) school at 17 Pine Street. In 2016, the school had an enrolment of 223 students with 18 teachers (16 full-time equivalent) with 12 non-teaching staff (9 full-time equivalent).[11]

Miles State High School is a government co-educational secondary school (7-12) in Pine Street. In 2016, the school had an enrolment of 190 students with 22 teachers (21 full-time equivalent) and 20 non-teaching staff (13 full-time equivalent).[12]

Western Downs Regional Council operates Miles Library at Dogwood Crossing on the corner of Dawson and Murilla Streets, Miles.[13]

The Miles branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association has its rooms in Corbett Drive.[14]

Miles Historical Village Museum is at 141 Murilla Street. It is laid out in the style of town main street in an early Queensland rural town. There are 34 buildings including 15 historic structures relocated from the local area.[15] It regarded as one of the best historical villages in Australia, and is used as a film set and special events venue, in addition to its normal operations as a museum.[16]

Miles is located on the Western Downs, at an elevation of 304 m. The region around Miles has hot summers with mean maximum temperatures in January of 33.4° Celsius falling to 19.6 in July. Average rainfall is 655.7 mm, falling mainly in the period between November and March[17]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Miles, Queensland.

• "Miles". Queensland Places. Centre for the Government of Queensland, University of Queensland.
• Town map of Miles, 1983
• Sydney Morning Herald Travel
• Dogwood Crossing - The local gallery, library and IT resource centre.