Westwood, Queensland

The northern half of the locality of Westwood is in Rockhampton region while the southern part is in the Shire of Banana.{{Queensland Globe|access-date=22 July 2023}}

The town is in the south-east of the locality with two other neighbourhoods in the north-east of locality

• Huxham ({{coord|-23.6|150.1666|type:city_region:AU-QLD|name=Huxham (neighbourhood)}}). It takes its name from the Huxham railway station, which in turn was named on 21 August 1919 by the Queensland Railways Department after John Saunders Huxham, the Home Secretary of Queensland.{{cite QPN|16551|Huxham|locality unbounded in Rockhampton Regional|access-date=8 March 2023}}
• Spring Creek ({{coord|-23.5833|150.1666|type:city_region:AU-QLD|name=Spring Creek (neighbourhood)}}){{cite QPN|39319|Spring Creek|locality unbounded in Rockhampton Regional|access-date=8 March 2023}}

The Capricorn Highway passes through the town, and the intersection with the Leichhardt Highway is a few kilometres to the southwest.

The Blackwater railway line enters the locality from the north (Wycarbah), passes through the town, and exits to the south-west (Gogango).

Westwood has the following mountains:{{cite web |title=Layers: Locality; Mountains and ranges; Contours; Watercourses |url=https://qldglobe.information.qld.gov.au/ |access-date=1 April 2025 |website=Queensland Globe |publisher=Queensland Government |archive-date=19 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171219175447/https://qldglobe.information.qld.gov.au/ |url-status=live }}

• Sugarloaf Mountain in the north-east of the locality ({{coord|-23.56295|150.15110|type:mountain_region:AU-QLD|name=Sugarloaf Mountain}}), rising to {{convert|300|m}} above sea level{{Cite web |date=12 November 2020 |title=Mountain peaks and capes - Queensland |url=https://www.data.qld.gov.au/dataset/geographic-features-queensland-series/resource/06ff12a9-862e-4aac-bf9d-693f0a63b4c9 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125215033/https://www.data.qld.gov.au/dataset/geographic-features-queensland-series/resource/06ff12a9-862e-4aac-bf9d-693f0a63b4c9 |archive-date=25 November 2020 |access-date=25 November 2020 |website=Queensland Open Data |publisher=Queensland Government}}{{cite QPN|32773|Sugarloaf Mountain|mountain in Rockhampton Region|access-date=25 November 2020}}
• Norman Head in the north-east of the locality ({{coord|-23.56129|150.14965|type:mountain_region:AU-QLD|name=Norman Head}}), {{Convert|220|m}}{{Cite web |date=12 November 2020 |title=Mountain peaks and capes - Queensland |url=https://www.data.qld.gov.au/dataset/geographic-features-queensland-series/resource/06ff12a9-862e-4aac-bf9d-693f0a63b4c9 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125215033/https://www.data.qld.gov.au/dataset/geographic-features-queensland-series/resource/06ff12a9-862e-4aac-bf9d-693f0a63b4c9 |archive-date=25 November 2020 |access-date=25 November 2020 |website=Queensland Open Data |publisher=Queensland Government}}{{cite QPN|24540|Norman Head|mountain in Rockhampton Region|access-date=25 November 2020}}
• Cobbler Mountain in the west of the locality ({{coord|-23.60440|150.08259|type:mountain_region:AU-QLD|name=Cobbler Mountain}}), {{convert|305|m}}{{cite QPN|7565|Cobbler Mountain|mountain in Rockhampton Region|access-date=25 November 2020}}
• Sebastopol Mountain in the south of the locality ({{coord|-23.63979|150.14193|type:mountain_region:AU-QLD|name=Sebastopol Mountain}}), {{convert|314|m}}{{cite QPN|30341|Sebastopol Mountain|mountain in Rockhampton Region|access-date=25 November 2020}}

The predominant land use is grazing on native vegetation.

File:Westwood railway station.tiff

File:Westwood School, 1930.tiff

File:Page 26 of the Queenslander Pictorial supplement to The Queenslander 14 June 1919.tiff

Although towns such as Brisbane, Maryborough and Rockhampton had been gazetted by the New South Wales Government prior to the separation of Queensland, Westwood was the first town to be gazetted by the newly established Queensland Government on 23 May 1860. Although the area was named Prestone on the original survey plan, Queensland Governor George Bowen decided to name the town Westwood after Westwood House, the home of Sir John Pakington, the Secretary of State for the Colonies and War in 1852.{{Cite web|title = Westwood celebrates its place in Queensland's 150 year history|url = http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/Id/62832|website = statements.qld.gov.au|access-date = 2015-12-26|language = en-AU|archive-date = 4 March 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304214722/http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/Id/62832|url-status = live}}

On 29 September 1867, the first stage of the Great Northern Railway (now known as the Central Western Line) reached the area from Rockhampton, and Westwood became the railhead.The Centenary of the Central Line Knowles, J.W. Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, September, 1967 pp181-202 The first load of wool was railed from the town on 23 August.

Westwood State School opened on 26 August 1872.{{Cite QldSchool|access-date=26 December 2015}}{{cite QSA Agency|5823|Westwood State School|26 December 2015}}

A Protestant church opened in Westwood on Thursday 2 October 1873.{{cite news|date=2 October 1873|title=THE DOCK WAREHOUSES.|volume=XIII|page=2|newspaper=Rockhampton Bulletin|issue=1859|location=Queensland, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51806085|via=National Library of Australia|accessdate=4 December 2021}}

The town was meant to be the railhead for only a short time. However, bureaucracy and financial difficulties for the state meant that the next section of the line did not commence construction until 1873. The significance of Westwood declined when the railhead moved further west.

On Saturday 6 September 1919, John Huxham, the Queensland Home Secretary opened the Westwood Sanatorium,{{cite news|date=6 September 1919|title=WESTWOOD SANATORIUM|volume=44|page=31|newspaper=The Capricornian|issue=36|location=Queensland, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article69774859|via=National Library of Australia|accessdate=13 November 2021}}{{Cite web|title=Westwood Sanatorium on its opening day 1919|url=https://achha.org.au/detailed.php?num=35|url-status=live|access-date=2021-11-13|website=Australian Country Hospital Heritage Association|archive-date=16 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416082048/https://achha.org.au/detailed.php?num=35}} a 64-bed sanitorium was opened in Westwood to treat miner's phthisis,{{cite news|date=8 September 1919|title=Westwood Sanatorium.|page=7 (SECOND EDITION)|newspaper=The Telegraph|issue=14,597|location=Queensland, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article175831183|via=National Library of Australia|accessdate=13 November 2021}} a lung disease suffered by miners from working in dusty conditions. Later, it treated patients with Tuberculosis.{{cite journal |last1=Kirby |first1=Stephanie |last2=Madsen |first2=Wendy |date=2009 |title=Institutionalised isolation: tuberculosis nursing at Westwood Sanatorium, Queensland, Australia 1919–55 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1440-1800.2009.00444.x |journal=Nursing Inquiry |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=122-32 |doi=10.1111/j.1440-1800.2009.00444.x |access-date=15 November 2024}} In 1953, a ¾ mile bitumen road was built from the Huxham railway siding (just to the north of Westwood) to the sanitorium and named Haigh Drive in memory of Leonard Garfield Haigh, the former chairman of the Rockhampton Hospitals Board from 2 June 1933 to 16 February 1953. Commencing with a tiled-roof waiting shed at the siding with a plaque commemorating Haigh, the drive to the sanitorium was flanked with Peltophorum trees and was officially opened by James Larcombe (MLA for Rockhampton) in the presence of Haigh's widow on Sunday 1 November 1953.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article75427865 |title=HAIGH DRIVE OPENED. |newspaper=The Central Queensland Herald (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1930 - 1956) |location=Rockhampton, Qld. |date=5 November 1953 |access-date=27 December 2015 |page=11 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article75427867 |title=Untitled |newspaper=The Central Queensland Herald (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1930 - 1956) |location=Rockhampton, Qld. |date=5 November 1953 |access-date=27 December 2015 |page=11 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} More effective medical treatments for tuberculous resulted in the closure of the sanitorium in 1959, but the building continued to be used as a nursing home until the 1980s. The sanitorium buildings were then relocated or demolished; one is in use as a private home in Emerald.{{Cite web|title = Westwood Sanatorium on opening day 1919|url = http://www.achha.org.au/detailed.php?num=48|website = www.achha.org.au|access-date = 2015-12-26|archive-date = 29 February 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160229001856/http://achha.org.au/detailed.php?num=48|url-status = live}}

In 1996, Westwood held its first Anzac Day ceremony at its new memorial which was dedicated the same day.{{cite web |url=https://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/conflict/multiple/display/114928-westwood-war-memorial|title=Westwood War Memorial|author= |date= |website=Monument Australia|publisher= |access-date=13 June 2021|quote=}} The event, organised by the Westwood Progress Association, was attended by approximately 80 people including official guests Fitzroy Shire mayor Mary Seierup, state MP Jim Pearce and federal MP Paul Marek.{{cite web|url=https://judithsalecich.com/remembering-westwoods-first-anzac-day-ceremony-1996|title=Remembering Westwood's first Anzac Day ceremony (1996)|last=Salecich|first=Judith|date=22 April 2017|website=Love in a little black diary|publisher=|access-date=13 June 2021|quote=|archive-date=13 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613074451/https://judithsalecich.com/remembering-westwoods-first-anzac-day-ceremony-1996/|url-status=live}} Fitzroy Shire councillor Vince Reynolds was the master of ceremonies while Uniting Church pastor Dorothy Demack served as the worship leader.

Westwood was in the Shire of Fitzroy until local government amalgamations in 2008 resulted in it being in the Rockhampton Region.{{Cite web |title=Fitzroy Shire |url=https://www.queenslandplaces.com.au/fitzroy-shire |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=Queensland Places |publisher=University of Queensland}}

In the {{CensusAU|2006}}, the locality of Westwood and the surrounding area had a population of 253 people.{{Census 2006 AUS|id=SSC37905|name=Westwood (Fitzroy Shire) (State Suburb)|accessdate=2009-07-25|quick=on}}

In the {{CensusAU|2011}}, the locality of Westwood had a population of 240 people.{{Census 2011 AUS|id=SSC31758|name=Westwood|access-date=26 December 2015|quick=on}}

In the {{CensusAU|2016}}, the locality of Westwood had a population of 174 people.{{Census 2016 AUS|id=SSC33082|name=Westwood (SSC)|access-date=20 October 2018|quick=on}}

In the {{CensusAU|2021}}, the locality of Westwood had a population of 199 people.{{Census 2021 AUS|id=SAL33052|name=Westwood (SAL)|access-date=28 February 2023|quick=on}}

Westwood has the following heritage-listed sites:

• remains of the Adolphus William Copper Smelter{{cite QHR|5033|Adolphus William Copper Smelter and Dee Township|700013|access-date = 12 July 2013}}

Westwood State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 108 Herbert Street ({{coord|-23.6173|150.1545|type:edu_region:AU-QLD|name=Westwood State School}}).{{cite web|url=https://data.qld.gov.au/dataset/state-and-non-state-school-details/resource/5b39065c-df32-415c-994c-5ff12f8de997|title=State and non-state school details|publisher=Queensland Government|date=9 July 2018|access-date=21 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121065959/https://data.qld.gov.au/dataset/state-and-non-state-school-details/resource/5b39065c-df32-415c-994c-5ff12f8de997|archive-date=21 November 2018|url-status=live}}{{Cite web |date=2021-12-01 |title=Westwood State School |url=https://westwoodss.eq.edu.au/ |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=Westwood State School |language=en}} In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 13 students with 2 teachers (1 full-time equivalent) and 4 non-teaching staff (2 full-time equivalent).{{cite web|url=http://www.acara.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/school-profile-20172c7b12404c94637ead88ff00003e0139.xlsx?sfvrsn=0|title=ACARA School Profile 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122010027/http://www.acara.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/school-profile-20172c7b12404c94637ead88ff00003e0139.xlsx?sfvrsn=0|archive-date=22 November 2018|url-status=live|access-date=22 November 2018}} In 2022, the school had 20 students.{{Cite web |title=School annual report 2022 |url=https://westwoodss.eq.edu.au/supportandresources/formsanddocuments/annualreports/annual%20report%202022.pdf |access-date=22 July 2023 |website=Westwood State School}}

There are no secondary schools in Westwood. The nearest government secondary school is Rockhampton State High School in Wandal, Rockhampton to the north-east.

{{Reflist}}

• {{Citation | author1=Hansen, Ronald James | title=The geology of the Westwood Intrusion, Central Eastern Queensland | publication-date=1971 | publisher=Brisbane | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/31786567 }}
• {{Citation | author1=Hanrahan, Gail Marguerite | title=Westwood State School : 125 years, 26 August 1872-1997 | publication-date=1997 | publisher=Westwood State School | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/24675951 }}
• {{Citation | author1=Hoch, Isabel | title=Medical care at Westwood 1919-1984 | publication-date=2009 | publisher=Rockhampton & District Historical Society | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/155869258 | access-date=27 December 2015 }}

{{commons category|Westwood, Queensland}}

• {{cite web|title=Westwood|url=https://sites.google.com/site/cqfamilyhistory/articles-indexes/history/district/westwood|publisher=Central Queensland Family History Association Inc|access-date=26 December 2015}}
• {{cite web|url=https://gisservices.information.qld.gov.au/arcgis/rest/directories/historicalscans/cad_scans/cad-map-town-westwood-1973.jpg|title=Town map of Westwood|date=1973|publisher=Queensland Government}}

{{Rockhampton Region}}

{{Banana Shire}}

{{Central Queensland}}

{{authority control}}

Category:Towns in Queensland

Category:Suburbs of Rockhampton Region

Category:Shire of Banana

Category:Localities in Queensland