История города Чарлевиль, Квинсленд: от аборигенов до железной дороги

Gungabula (also known as Kongabula and Khungabula) is an Australian Aboriginal language of the headwaters of the Dawson River in Central Queensland. The language region includes areas within the local government area of Maranoa Region, particularly the towns of Charleville, Augathella and Blackall and as well as the Carnarvon Range. The first European exploration of the area, which was Kunja tribal land, was conducted by Edmund Kennedy in 1847. Gowrie Station had been established around the Gowrie Crossing, a ford across the Warrego River along a natural stock route, for the grazing of sheep and cattle. The town was gazetted on 11 January 1865. It was situated near Gowrie's Crossing, a permanent waterhole, now on the outskirts of the modern town. It was planned with very wide streets to enable bullock teams of up to 14 pairs to turn with their wagons. It was William Alcock Tully, who was Commissioner of Crown Lands in the Warrego District from 1863 to 1864 and would later serve as Surveyor General of Queensland from 1875 to 1889, who laid out the town's streets. An Irishman, Tully probably named the town after the town of Charleville, County Cork, Ireland. A hotel was built in 1865. Charleville Post Office opened on 1 August 1865 and a town began to grow to service the region. Members of the Roma based Skinner family established a store in the town in 1872 that became known as the Warrego Stores and Edward and Margot Kelly ran the Charleville Hotel together from 1928. In September 1875, the Queensland Government called for tenders to erect a courthouse in Charleville. The foundation stone (actually a bloodwood block) was laid on 23 November 1875. By January 1876, the courthouse was almost finished. In December 1884, the Queensland Government called for tenders to erect a hospital in Charleville. In March 1885 the contract was awarded to Richards and King for £2,265 10s. In November 1885, a hospital ball was held in the new hospital building, suggesting it was completed and opened around that time. Cobb and Co, the legendary Australian stagecoach company, established a coach building business in the town in 1886. however, the railway arrived in 1888, beginning the long demise of coach transport in the area. Charleville railway station opened on 1 March 1888 and was the terminus for the Western railway line until the line was extended south to Cunnamulla in 1898. Facilities included a locomotive depot, cattle and sheep yards, a 50 ton weighbridge, a booking and telegraph offices, goods shed, stationmaster's house, and guards, enginemen and firemen's cottages. Glenroy Scour Siding All Saint's Anglican Church was opened on by Rev. B. R. Wilson on 20 November 1887. It was designed by diocesan architect John Hingestone Buckeridge and built by Mr Wood. It was dedicated in 1897. The foundation stone for the present church was laid in September 1957 by Archbishop Reginald Halse. The new church was dedicated in 1958 and consecrated in 1967. In 1902 Charleville was the location of an unsuccessful attempt by Clement Lindley Wragge to fire cannons into the clouds in order to break a drought. The cannons used remain on display in Charleville today. St Mary's Catholic Primary School was opened on 26 January 1913 by the Sisters of Mercy. The school suffered extensive damage during the April 1990 flood which devastated Charleville. In 1922, Qantas established an airmail service between Charleville and Cloncurry. At the same time, this was Qantas's first regularly scheduled route and the second scheduled air route in Australia. On 9 October 1924, the Charleville War Memorial was unveiled by Sir Matthew Nathan, the Governor of Queensland. The Anglican Chapel of the Holy Angels Hostels was consecrated circa 1929. It closed circa 1984. Charleville was also one of the compulsory stopover/check points during the London to Melbourne MacRobertson Air Race in 1934. The winners of the great race were Tom Campbell Black and C. W. A. Scott. Their triumph was reported in Time magazine as:

"Scott and Black, keeping up their sensational pace, flashed into Charleville, refueled, sped toward the finish where waiting thousands cheered their progress, reported over loudspeakers. With one motor dead, with only two hours sleep since leaving England, the Britons triumphantly set their scarlet torpedo down in Melbourne at 3:34 p. m. In 71 hr. 1 min. 3 sec. – Just under three days – they had flown halfway around the world." Proximity to the Warrego River has been problematic. Charleville was hit by flooding in 1971 caused by a rain depression that was formed from the remnants of Cyclone Althea. In April 1990, major floods hit western Queensland, with Charleville being badly affected. Floodwaters peaked at 8.54 metres, over 1,000 homes were inundated, and almost 3,000 people evacuated. More recently, the district suffered flooding again in 1997, 2008 and March 2010. Flooding also occurred in February 2012.

In the the locality of Charleville had a population of 3,335 people. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 15.3% of the population. 83.6% of people were born in Australia. The next most common country of birth was Vietnam at 3.3%. 87.6% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Vietnamese at 3.5%. The most common responses for religion were Catholic 34.1%, Anglican 24.1% and No Religion 17.2%,

Charleville State School is a government primary (Early Childhood to Year 6) school for boys and girls at Wills Street In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 205 students with 20 teachers (19 full time equivalent) and 22 non teaching staff (16 full time equivalent). It includes a special education program (certified through the National Disability Insurance Scheme). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 117 students with 9 teachers (8 full time equivalent) and 9 non teaching staff (4 full time equivalent). It was established in 1961, replacing the Secondary Department at Charleville State School. In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 246 students (including students from Augathella, Morven and Wyandra) with 36 teachers (34 full time equivalent) and 21 non teaching staff (16 full time equivalent). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 200 students with 25 teachers (24 full time equivalent) and 12 non teaching staff (10 full time equivalent). There is a public library on Alfred Street run by the Murweh Shire Council with a high speed ISDN Internet connection to Brisbane (powered through the National Broadband Network). The Charleville branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association has its rooms at 145 Alfred Street. The Charleville Golf Course has eighteen sand greens and a licensed clubhouse in May Street. The Charleville Bowls Club has two rinks and a licensed clubhouse in Epacris Street. All Saints Anglican Church is at 41 Alfred Street
North of the town is VMC, a marine weather transmitter operated by the Bureau of Meteorology.

Charleville experiences a hot semi arid climate (Köppen: BSh, Trewartha: BShl); with very hot summers with moderate rains; warm to hot, relatively dry springs and autumns; and mild, dry winters. Summers are very hot, and depending on wind direction, very dry or very humid. Winters are mild to cool and crisp, with rather high diurnal ranges, which provide some frost. Rainfall is mild and distributed patchily throughout the year, with a peak in summer. Severe flooding events are usually caused by monsoon troughs and the remnants of tropical cyclones dumping large amounts of rain over the area; however, rain normally falls in the form of thunderstorms and light showers after hot summer days. Extremes have ranged from to The highest rainfall total recorded for one month was in March 2010.

An eponymous country music song about Charleville was written by Don Walker and recorded by Slim Dusty on his album Ringer from the Top End and later by Walker's own band Catfish on the album Ruby. The asteroid 13933 Charleville is named in the town's honour A children's book called The Flood Grungies written by Michelle Sheehan and illustrated by Donna Reynolds. It is about the notorious Charleville floods and features the Cosmos centre, the water tower and other famous landmarks.