:Acland, Queensland

Acland is north of Oakey, on the Darling Downs, {{convert|160|km|mi|-1}} west of Queensland's state capital, Brisbane.

It lies in pasture country where there has been some dairy farming, horse breeding and coal mining.{{Cite news|date=4 June 1930|title=Downs Breeders – Great Record|work=The Brisbane Courier|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21535243?searchTerm=ackland+mine|access-date=19 July 2010|archive-date=1 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240501060224/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/21535243?searchTerm=ackland+mine|url-status=live}}Masters, pp. 3–12. Rainfall was measured at the post office between 1912 and 1993, recording an average annual rainfall of {{convert|690|mm}}.Masters, p. 14

The town of Acland is believed to be named by then Commission of Railways, Charles Barnard Evans, whose mother's maiden was Acland.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article25505199 |title=SKETCHER. |newspaper=The Queenslander |date=28 March 1914 |access-date=16 April 2014 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=2 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202054051/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/25505199 |url-status=live }}{{cite web|title=Bernard Charles Acland|url=https://www.bdm.qld.gov.au/IndexSearch/querySubmit.m?ReportName=DeathSearch|work=1921/B33745|publisher=Queensland Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages|access-date=16 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721220530/https://www.bdm.qld.gov.au/IndexSearch/querySubmit.m?ReportName=DeathSearch|archive-date=21 July 2015|url-status=live}} It was originally known as Lagoon Creek.{{Cite news|date=31 January 1931|title=Mr D. Connell (obituary)|work=The Brisbane Courier|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21665152?searchTerm=acland+darling|access-date=19 July 2010|archive-date=1 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240501060310/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/21665152?searchTerm=acland+darling|url-status=live}}

Lagoon Creek Provisional School opened on 22 July 1885. On 1 January 1909 it became Lagoon Creek State School. From 1915 to 1920 it was called Acland State School. It closed on 31 August 1930.{{Citation|author1=Queensland Family History Society|title=Queensland schools past and present|publication-date=2010|edition=Version 1.01|publisher=Queensland Family History Society|isbn=978-1-921171-26-0}}

Acland town developed following the mining of coal in the area by the Acland Coal Company.{{Cite news|url=http://www.thechronicle.com.au/story/2008/12/30/acland-a-lonely-place/|title=Acland is a lonely place|last=Logan|first=Madeleine|work=Toowoomba Chronicle|access-date=30 September 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091115093236/http://www.thechronicle.com.au/story/2008/12/30/acland-a-lonely-place/|archive-date=15 November 2009|url-status=live}} The town had a police officer by 1913, at which time there was also a primary school nearby, known as Lagoon Creek.Masters, pp 5, 6, 14. Acland Railway Station Post Office opened on 1 May 1913. It was replaced by Acland Post Office in 1969, which closed October 1998.{{Cite web | last = Phoenix Auctions History | title = Post Office List | publisher = Phoenix Auctions | url = http://www.phoenixauctions.com.au/cgi-bin/wsPhoenix.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=QLD&filter=*Acland* | access-date = 21 March 2021 | archive-date = 1 May 2024 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240501060027/http://www.phoenixauctions.com.au/cgi-bin/wsPhoenix.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=QLD&filter=%2AAcland%2A | url-status = live }}{{cite book|last1=Greenhalgh|first1=Kath|title=Acland from Coal Town to Tidy Town|date=2011|publisher=Bernborough Press|location=Oakey Qld.|isbn=9780646562193}}

Acland State School opened on 28 February 1921. A declining population meant the primary school had just 12 students by 2004 and it was mothballed in December 2004.{{Cite news|date=3 December 2004|title=Closing of school shows neglect of bush: Jones|work=Toowoomba Chronicle|url=http://www.thechronicle.com.au/story/2004/12/03/apn-closing-of-school-shows-neglect-of-bus/|url-status=live|access-date=30 September 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706113131/http://www.thechronicle.com.au/story/2004/12/03/apn-closing-of-school-shows-neglect-of-bus/|archive-date=6 July 2011}} It was permanently closed on 24 August 2005.{{Cite web |date=20 August 2013 |title=Queensland state school – centre closures |url=https://documents.parliament.qld.gov.au/tp/2013/5413T3241.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220320144902/https://documents.parliament.qld.gov.au/tp/2013/5413T3241.pdf |archive-date=20 March 2022 |access-date=6 April 2022 |website=Queensland Government}} The school faced Allen Street and was bounded by Allen Street, William Street, Bellevue Street and South Streets ({{Coord|-27.3054

|151.6918

|type:edu_region:AU-QLD|name=Acland State School (former)}}).{{Cite web|date=1943|title=Parish of Watts|url=https://gisservices.information.qld.gov.au/arcgis/rest/directories/historicalscans/cad_scans/cad-map-40chain-parish-watts-1943.jpg|url-status=live|access-date=26 March 2021|publisher=Queensland Government|type=Map|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210326085744/https://gisservices.information.qld.gov.au/arcgis/rest/directories/historicalscans/cad_scans/cad-map-40chain-parish-watts-1943.jpg |archive-date=26 March 2021 }}{{Google maps|url=https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/27%C2%B018'19.3%22S+151%C2%B041'30.6%22E/@-27.3054339,151.6912808,304m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xd9e04393781d5b68!8m2!3d-27.30536!4d151.69183|access-date=22 April 2022|title=Acland State School (former)}}

The Acland number two colliery opened in 1929, and in the 1940s and 1950s it employed 52 people.

File:Church of England in Acland after the tornado of 6 December 1952.jpg

On Saturday 8 December 1952, most of the buildings in the town were damaged by a tornado. The Anglican Church, the Presbyterian Church, the public hall and butcher's shop were all destroyed beyond repair.{{cite news|date=8 December 1952|title=FOUR TOWNS REPAIR HAVOC|page=1|newspaper=The Courier-mail|issue=5001|location=Queensland, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article50513200|access-date=28 July 2020|via=National Library of Australia|archive-date=1 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240501060035/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/50513200|url-status=live}}{{cite news|date=8 December 1952|title=CHURCH STOOD HERE: DOWNS TORNADO WRECKAGE|page=5|newspaper=The Courier-mail|issue=5001|location=Queensland, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article50513300|access-date=28 July 2020|via=National Library of Australia|archive-date=1 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240501060055/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/50513300|url-status=live}}

St Jude's Anglican Church was dedicated on 21 June 1953 by Reverend Rupert Warner Shand. The church had been rebuilt after the previous church was destroyed by the tornado in December 1952.{{cite news|date=22 June 1953|title=Tornado-Demolished Church Replaced|page=1|newspaper=Warwick Daily News|issue=10,566|location=Queensland, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article187212365|access-date=27 July 2020|via=National Library of Australia|archive-date=1 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240501060044/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/187212365|url-status=live}} Its closure on 5 December 2006 was approved by Venerable G. F. Harch, Archdeacon of The Downs.{{Cite web|last=Anglican Church of Southern Queensland|title=Closed Churches|url=https://www.anglicanarchives.org.au/churches/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403003329/https://www.anglicanarchives.org.au/churches/|archive-date=3 April 2019|access-date=3 July 2020}} In June 2015, it was relocated to the Jondaryan Woolshed to be used as a wedding chapel there.{{Cite web|title=Acland Anglican Church – Former|url=https://www.churchesaustralia.org/list-of-churches/denominations/anglican/directory/6111-acland-anglican-church-former|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-13|website=Churches Australia|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211213042546/https://www.churchesaustralia.org/list-of-churches/denominations/anglican/directory/6111-acland-anglican-church-former |archive-date=13 December 2021 }}{{Cite web|title=Acland Anglican Church – Former|url=https://www.churchesaustralia.org/list-of-churches/denominations/anglican/directory/2863-acland-anglican-church-former|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-13|website=Churches Australia|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211213042549/https://www.churchesaustralia.org/list-of-churches/denominations/anglican/directory/2863-acland-anglican-church-former |archive-date=13 December 2021 }}{{Cite web|date=18 June 2015|title=Highway sight to see as last church removed from Acland|url=https://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2015/06/18/4257360.htm|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-13|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211213043004/https://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2015/06/18/4257360.htm |archive-date=13 December 2021 }}

By 1971, with demand for coal for transport in decline, Acland was home to the only remaining coalmine on the Darling Downs. The mine was Queensland's "oldest and smallest continuously worked coal mine" at the time of its closure in 1984.{{Cite news|title=The coal truth of life next to a mine|last=Nason|first=James|date=6 November 2008|work=Country Life}} The old [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/colliery colliery] is state heritage-listed, being "the most intact mine site of its age and type in Queensland".{{cite QHR|22219|Acland No. 2 Colliery (former)|602599|access-date=30 September 2009}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,,24511696-3102,00.html|title=Lone stand as coalminers poised to bulldoze Acland|last=Morley|first=Peter|date=18 October 2008|work=Courier Mail (Brisbane)|access-date=30 September 2009}} From the mine's closure in 1984, to the sale of the site to the Shire of Rosalie in 2000, the workings were operated as a mining museum by Kath and John Greenhalgh, the owners of the farm on which the mine was located. In September 2006 Kath & John Greenhalgh sold the land to New Acland Pastoral Company.{{cite web|title=Opponents wary as plans instill new hope in coal mine|url=http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/opponents-instill-new-hope-coal-mine-toowoomba/1651833/|access-date=7 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107143650/http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/opponents-instill-new-hope-coal-mine-toowoomba/1651833/|archive-date=7 November 2014|url-status=live}}

In the 1980s Acland was a six-time winner of the Queensland Tidy Town Award for towns with a population between 200 and 400,{{Cite news|title=Gritty gran carves out an oasis|last=Watson|first=Judy|date=13 August 1989|work=The Sunday Mail (Brisbane)}} and the inaugural overall Tidy Town prize in 1989.

In 1999, New Hope Coal moved into the area and established the New Acland Mine, an open cut coal mine that since 2005 has been New Hope's main coal producing operation.{{Cite book|last=New Hope Corporation|title=Directors' Annual Report and Financial Statements 2005|publisher=New Hope Corporation|location=Brisbane|year=2005|pages=2–4|url=http://www.newhopecoal.com.au/media/2913/2005%20annual%20report.pdf|access-date=30 September 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091004010933/http://www.newhopecoal.com.au/media/2913/2005%20annual%20report.pdf|archive-date=4 October 2009|url-status=live}} Anticipating major expansion, the company began to purchase houses in Acland in advance of the area becoming an open cut mine pit, expected to produce 10 million tonnes of coal each year. Ahead of the mine's development, several Queensland bottle trees were prepared for transplantation to the new National Arboretum in Canberra.{{Cite news|last=Stewart | first=Frances | title=Orphaned trees find a home at National Arboretum | work=Sunday Canberra Times |date=9 May 2010 | page=20}}

Acland reported a population of just 53 in the {{CensusAU|2006}}.{{Census 2006 AUS|id=SSC35009|name=Acland (Rosalie Shire) (State Suburb)|accessdate=20 September 2011|quick=on}}

In December 2008 Glenn Beutel was the only remaining homeowner, having rejected the company's offer to purchase his house. In mid-2010 Beutel continued to resist the company's offers, and was reported to still be maintaining the local park established by his parents.{{Cite news |last=Houghton |first=Des |title=Glen Beutel yet to sell home as Acland coal mine closes in |work=The Courier Mail |date=3 April 2010 |access-date=19 July 2010 |url=http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/glen-beutel-is-the-last-man-standing-among-ghosts-at-acland-near-toowoomba/story-e6frereo-1225848992055 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110201203917/http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/glen-beutel-is-the-last-man-standing-among-ghosts-at-acland-near-toowoomba/story-e6frereo-1225848992055 |archive-date=1 February 2011 |url-status=live }}{{Cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2010/s2889269.htm|title=Fighting to keep Acland alive|last=Taylor|first=John|date=3 May 2010|work=7:30 Report|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|access-date=19 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100513041744/http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2010/s2889269.htm|archive-date=13 May 2010|url-status=live}} On Monday 4 June 2012, during a live broadcast of ABC TV show Q&A from Toowoomba's Empire Theatre, a question was asked by an audience member which made reference to Glenn Beutel being the last resident of Acland.{{Cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s3512765.htm |title=ABC Q&A Episode broadcast live from Toowoomba's Empire Theatre on 4 June 2012 – click on link and go to 30:33 |website=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=7 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120606183729/http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s3512765.htm |archive-date=6 June 2012 |url-status=live }}

In the {{CensusAU|2016}}, the locality of Acland had a population of 32 people.{{Census 2016 AUS|id=SSC30008|name=Acland (SSC)|access-date=20 October 2018|quick=on}}

In the {{CensusAU|2021}}, the locality of Acland had a population of 3 people.{{Census 2021 AUS|id=SAL30008|name=Acland (SAL)|access-date=28 February 2023|quick=on}}

Acland has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

• 2 Francis Street: Acland No. 2 Colliery{{cite QHR|22219|Acland No. 2 Colliery (former)|602599|access-date=15 July 2013}}

There are no schools in Acland. The nearest government primary schools are Jondaryan State School in neighbouring Jondaryan to the south-east, Oakey State School in Oakey to the south, Goombungee State School in Goombungee to the east, and Kulpi State School in Kulpi to the north-west. The nearest government secondary school is Oakey State High School in Oakey to the south.{{Queensland Globe|access-date=26 March 2021}}

Australian radio broadcaster, Alan Jones attended Acland State School from 1946.Masters, p. 36.

• Wollar, New South Wales

{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite book|last=Masters |first=Chris |year=2006 |title=Jonestown: The Power and the Myth of Alan Jones |location=Crows Nest, NSW|publisher=Allen & Unwin |isbn=978-1-74175-320-2}}

• {{Citation|author1=Greenhalgh, Kath|title=Acland from coal town to tidy town|publication-date=2011|publisher=Kath Greenhalgh|isbn=978-0-646-56219-3}}
• {{Citation|author1=Greenhalgh, Kath|title=The "Acland Tornado" : 50th anniversary souvenir : 6th December 1952|publication-date=2002|publisher=Toowoomba Education Centre|isbn=978-1-876245-85-6|author2=Friends of Historic Acland Coal Mine Museum Association (Rosalie Shire, Qld.)}}

{{Commons category}}

• [https://www.epa.qld.gov.au/environmental_management/impact_assessment/current_eis_processes/new_acland_coal_expansion_project.html New Acland Coal Expansion Project]{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} documentation, Queensland Government Environmental Protection Authority
• [https://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/permalink/61SLQ_INST/dls06p/alma99183565920802061 Acland photography project], State Library of Queensland
• [https://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/permalink/61SLQ_INST/dls06p/alma99261223402061 Acland Town Closure Photographs 2007], State Library of Queensland

{{Toowoomba Region}}

{{Darling Downs}}

{{authority control}}

Category:Toowoomba Region

Category:Mining towns in Queensland

Category:Populated places established in the 1910s

Category:Ghost towns in Queensland

Category:1912 establishments in Australia

Category:Towns in the Darling Downs

Category:Localities in Queensland