Английская Википедия:Blair Athol, Queensland

Материал из Онлайн справочника
Перейти к навигацииПерейти к поиску

Шаблон:Use dmy dates Шаблон:Use Australian English Шаблон:Infobox Australian place

Файл:StateLibQld 1 151983 Risien Street, Blair Athol, 1950.jpg
Risien Street, Blair Athol, 1950

Blair Athol is a former town within Clermont in the Isaac Region, Queensland, Australia.[1] It was obliterated by the development of the Blair Athol coal mine.

History

Early settler James MacLaren took up a pastoral run in the area in 1863 and named it Blair Athol after the village Blair Atholl, the location of Blair Castle of the Duke of Atholl in Scotland.[1] While sinking a well in 1864, he discovered coal on the property.[2]

By 1873, early shafts were dug, revealing extensive seams of coal. At that time, around 100 people were living in the town and there was a hotel, although no township had been officially surveyed.[3] The town was surveyed in 1878.[4]

Blair Athol Provisional School opened on 6 November 1893. It became a State School in 1909.[5][6]

Blair Athol Post Office opened on 1 July 1927 (a receiving office had been open from 1910) and closed in 1966.[7]

On 18 May 1922, the Queensland Governor Matthew Nathan officially opened Australia's first open cut mine at Blair Athol.[8]

By the 1970s, it became apparent that there were significant coal seams under the town. In order to construct an open cut mine, the town had to be sacrificed.[2]

The school closed on 31 December 1974.[5]

In 1981 a reunion was held at the community hall to mark the final end of the town, following which all of the town was demolished. Only the cemetery remains.[2]

References

Шаблон:Reflist

Further reading

External links

Шаблон:Commons category

Шаблон:Authority control