Muckadilla, Queensland

{{Infobox Australian place

| type = town

| name = Muckadilla

| city =

| state = qld

| image = Welcome to Muckadilla sign September 2019.jpg

| caption = Welcome sign on Warrego Highway

| coordinates = {{coord|-26.5863|148.3866|type:city_region:AU-QLD|display=inline,title|name=Muckadilla (town centre)}}

| pop = 38

| pop_year = {{CensusAU|2021}}

| pop_footnotes =

| established =

| postcode = 4461

| area = 241.8

| timezone = AEST

| utc = +10:00

| dist1 = 41.4

| dir1 = W

| location1 = Roma

| dist2 = 392

| dir2 = WNW

| location2 = Toowoomba

| dist3 = 519

| dir3 = WNW

| location3 = Brisbane

| dist4 =

| dir4 =

| location4 =

| lga = Maranoa Region

| stategov = Warrego

| fedgov = Maranoa

| near-n = Mount Bindango

| near-ne = Mount Bindango

| near-e = Mount Abundance

| near-se = Mount Abundance

| near-s = Mount Abundance

| near-sw = Eurella

| near-w = Eurella

| near-nw = Eurella

}}

Muckadilla is a rural town and locality in the Maranoa Region, Queensland, Australia.{{cite QPN|23253|Muckadilla|town in Maranoa Region|accessdate=28 December 2020}}{{cite QPN|47442|Muckadilla|locality in Maranoa Region|accessdate=28 December 2020}} In the {{CensusAU|2021}}, the locality of Muckadilla had a population of 38 people.

Geography

File:StateLibQld 1 115308 Railway station at Muckadilla, Queensland, ca. 1920.jpg

The town lies in the northern part of the locality. The Western railway line passes through the locality from east to west. The town is serviced by the Muckadilla railway station immediately to the north of the town. The Warrego Highway passes from east to west through the town, mostly being parallel immediately south of the railway line.{{Queensland Globe|access-date=20 July 2022}}

Muckadilla Creek flows from Mount Bindango to the north down to the south-east of Muckadilla to Mount Abundance, passing just west of the town. The creek becomes Cogoon River and then is a tributary of the Balonne River. Colonial surveyor and explorer Thomas Mitchell followed this stream through this area in 1846, prior to european settlement.

The land is mostly 350-400m above sea level and used for grazing and cropping. Some of the slopes of the higher peaks (to 470m) in the south-west of the locality remain densely forested.

History

File:Muckadilla Whistle Stop September 2019.jpgThe name Muckadilla was first used as the creek name, which in turn is believed to be an Aboriginal word (language and dialect unknown) to mean plenty of water.

Muckadilla Provisional School opened on 25 January 1886. It was proclaimed Muckadilla State School on 1 January 1909.{{Citation|title=Queensland schools past and present|publication-date=2010|author1=Queensland Family History Society|edition=Version 1.01|publisher=Queensland Family History Society|isbn=978-1-921171-26-0}} The school was mothballed on 31 December 2008, then closed on 31 December 2009.{{Cite QSA Agency|5550|Muckadilla State School|16 January 2017}}{{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 was on a {{Convert|5|acre|adj=on}} site at the southern end of Centenary Drive ({{Coord|-26.5908|148.3855|type:edu_region:AU-QLD|name=Muckadilla State School (former)}}).{{Cite web |date=1984 |title=Town of Muckadilla |url=https://gisservices.information.qld.gov.au/arcgis/rest/directories/historicalscans/cad_scans/cad-map-town-muckadilla-1984.jpg |access-date=13 April 2022 |publisher=Queensland Government |type=Map |archive-date=13 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220413014131/https://gisservices.information.qld.gov.au/arcgis/rest/directories/historicalscans/cad_scans/cad-map-town-muckadilla-1984.jpg |url-status=live }} The school's website was archived.{{Cite web |date=2008-07-18 |title=Muckadilla State School |url=http://www.muckadilss.eq.edu.au/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080718191016/http://www.muckadilss.eq.edu.au/ |archive-date=2008-07-18 |access-date=2022-04-13 }}

In 1889, the Queensland Government drilled a bore at Muckadilla. Although the water supply found was quite small, it was believed that it had healing properties and people flocked to Muckadilla in search of a cure.{{Cite web|url=http://www.outbacknow.com.au/index.php/towns/detail/queensland/south_west/muckadilla|title=Muckadilla|website=Outback Now|access-date=16 January 2017|archive-date=28 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228174357/http://www.outbacknow.com.au/index.php/towns/detail/queensland/south_west/muckadilla|url-status=live}} Dr E.W. Kerr of Brisbane endorsed the water, claiming it had cured "obstinate rheumatism" in some of his patients.{{Citation|title='Taking the waters': mineral springs, artesian bores and health tourism in Queensland, 1870-1950|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/189892181|publication-date=2013|author1=Griggs, Peter|pages=159–160|publisher=Cambridge University Press|access-date=16 January 2017|archive-date=7 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507084501/https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/189892181|url-status=live}} The baths were popular and, in 1939, John McEwan Hunter proposed that a sanitorium should be built there to better allow people to improve their "rheumatism, arthritis, uritus, digestion, nerves and general health".{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article98084765|title=MUCKADILLA BATHS AND CARNARVON RANGE|date=18 November 1939|newspaper=Western Star And Roma Advertiser|issue=6907|location=Queensland, Australia|page=2|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=16 January 2017|archive-date=20 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220720042751/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/98084765|url-status=live}}{{Cite journal |last=Griggs |first=Peter |title='Taking the waters': mineral springs, artesian bores and health tourism in Queensland, 1870-1950 |url=https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/30994/1/S1321816613000184a.pdf |journal=Queensland Review |publisher=Cambridge University Press |publication-date=2013 |volume=20 |pages=157–158, 169 |access-date=20 July 2022 |number=2 |archive-date=21 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921233227/https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/30994/1/S1321816613000184a.pdf |url-status=live }}

Demographics

In the {{CensusAU|2016}}, the locality of Muckadilla had a population of 58 people.{{Census 2016 AUS|id=SSC32067|name=Muckadilla (SSC)|accessdate=20 October 2018|quick=on}}

In the {{CensusAU|2021}}, the locality of Muckadilla had a population of 38 people.{{Census 2021 AUS|id=SAL32049|name=Muckadilla (SAL)|access-date=28 February 2023|quick=on}}

Education

There are no schools in Muckadilla with Muckadilla State School being mothballed on 31 December 2008 and closed in 2009. The nearest government primary schools are Roma State College in Roma to the east, Mitchell State School in Mitchell to the west, and Dunkeld State School in Dunkeld to the south-west. The nearest government secondary schools are Mitchell State School (to Year 10) and Roma State College (to Year 12).