Thargomindah

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title: "Thargomindah" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["towns-in-queensland", "south-west-queensland", "shire-of-bulloo", "localities-in-queensland"] topic_path: "general/towns-in-queensland" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thargomindah" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox Australian place"]

Field	Value
type	town
name	Thargomindah
state	qld
image	ThargomindahRoadHouse.jpg
caption	Outback roadhouse of Thargomindah
coordinates
pop	243
pop_year
pop_footnotes
established	1860s
postcode	4492
area	15213
timezone	AEST
utc	+10:00
elevation	130
dist1	197
dir1	W
location1	Cunnamulla
dist2	490
dir2	W
location2	St George
dist3	857
dir3	W
location3	Toowoomba
dist4	987
dir4	W
location4	Brisbane
lga	Shire of Bulloo
stategov	Warrego
fedgov	Maranoa
county	Wellington
maxtemp	29.5
mintemp	16.1
rainfall	300.4
near-n	Eromanga
near-ne	Quilpie
near-e	Yowah
near-se	Eulo
near-s	Hungerford
near-sw	Bulloo Downs
near-w	Noccundra
near-nw	Eromanga
::

On 17 April 2020, the Queensland Government decided to reorganise the nine localities in the Shire of Bulloo, resulting in six localities. Thargomindah, previously being 43.0 km2 of the area immediately surrounding the town of Thargomindah, was enlarged through the incorporation of all of Bullawarra (except for a small portion in the south of Bullawarra which was absorbed into Bulloo Downs), all of Dynevor and all of Norley, creating a locality of 15213 km2.

Geography

Thargominah is located in South West Queensland on the Adventure Way, approximately 1000 km west of the state capital, Brisbane, and 200 km west of the town of Cunnamulla.

The town of Thargomindah is the administrative centre for the Shire of Bulloo. It lies on the Bulloo River in the centre of the locality.

Five main roads radiate from the town:

the Bundeena Road goes west to Noccundra
the Quilpie Road goes north-east to Quilpie
the Cunnamulla Road (also known as the Bulloo Developmental Road and the Adventure Way) goes east to Yowah and Eulo and beyond to Cunnamulla
the Hungerford Road goes south to Hungerford
the Bulloo Downs Road goes south-west to Bulloo Downs

Thargomindah is part of the Channel Country where the rivers are mostly dry riverbeds except for seasonal flooding. The locality contributes to three major drainage basins:

in the south-east, creeks flow into the Paroo River system in the Murray-Darling basin
in the centre, creeks flow into the Bulloo River system in the Bulloo-Bancannia drainage basin
in the north-west, creeks flow into Wilson River system in the Lake Eyre basin

The Bulloo River flows through the locality from the north-east (Quilpie) through the town and exits the locality to the south-west (Bulloo Downs).

The land is principally used for low density cattle grazing. The Dynevor Downs homestead is located on the Cunnamulla Road ().

Lake Bindegolly National Park is located in the east of the locality (). A portion of the Currawinya National Park is on the south-eastern boundary of the locality (), although the bulk of that national park was in adjacent Hungerford.

Lake Bullawarra is in the northwest of the locality () approximately 25 km NW of the town and is a nationally important wetland. It is a habitat for a vulnerable species, the Major Mitchell's cockatoo.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/ThargomindahOutbackInfo.jpg" caption="Tourist information"] ::

Thargomindah lies on the traditional lands of the Kalali people who seemed to have had a close association with the Wongkumara, Margany and Badjiri peoples from neighbouring regions along the Bulloo and Wilson Rivers. The Margany language (also known as Maranganji), the Badjiri language and the Kalali language (Galali) are now mostly extinct, although some revitalisation projects have been commenced.

The Thargomindah area was first explored by the British in the early 1860s by colonist Vincent James Dowling, who established the Thargomindah pastoral property in 1865 with his brother John Dowling. Violence with the Aboriginal people soon ensued and John Dowling was killed. In retribution, Vincent Dowling and a Native Police detachment under Sub-Inspector James Gilmour from the Yowah barracks pursued the Kalali. These forces massacred a large number of Kalali people near the Thuringowa waterhole. A recent publication disputes these accounts of the massacre.

After the massacre, a new Native Police barracks called the Bulloo Barracks was established on Dowling's property at a crossing of the Bulloo River. From the 1870s, the town of Thargomindah developed around these barracks. Thargomindah is an Aboriginal word meaning echidna.

A post office was established in 1870 and a telegraph line connected the town to Cunnamulla in 1881.

Thargomindah Provisional School opened on 1 April 1884. In 1892 it became Thargomindah State School.

The 1890s saw the town prosper as the service and administrative centre of a pastoral district. An extension of the Western railway line to the town was planned for many years; however it never eventuated. The railway did reach Cunnamulla in 1898 and Quilpie in 1917.

Thargomindah was one of the first towns in Australia to produce hydroelectric power from 1898 until 1951. The old bore into the Great Artesian Basin was a source of energy when electric street lights were lit and coupled to a turbine driven by the bore's natural water pressure. The generator was taken from a unit powered by a steam engine and purchased by the Bulloo Divisional Board becoming the first municipality owned power plant in Queensland. After that power was supplied by diesel generators until 1988, when the town was connected to the state power grid via Cunnamulla. The power station is still operating with a daily opening to the public.

St Edmund's Anglican Church at 60 Dowling Street () was dedicated on 22 October 1960 by Archbishop Reginald Halse. Its closure on 28 May 2003 was approved by Venerable Gary Frederick Harch, Archdeacon of the West. It is now used as a private home.

On 17 April 2020 the Queensland Government decided to reorganise the nine localities in the Shire of Bulloo, resulting in six localities. Thargomindah, previously being 43.0 km2 of the area immediately surrounding the town of Thargomindah, was enlarged through the incorporation of all of Bullawarra (except for a small portion in the south of Bullawarra which was absorbed into Bulloo Downs), all of Dynevor and all of Norley, creating a locality of 15213 km2.

Demographics

In the , the town of Thargomindah had a population of 203 people.

In the , the locality of Thargomindah had a population of 270 people.

In the , the locality of Thargomindah had a population of 243 people.

Heritage listings

Thargomindah has a number of nearby heritage-listed sites, including:

Dr Ludwig Becker's Grave, Bulloo River, Bulloo Downs
Burke and Wills Dig Tree at Nappa Merrie Station, Durham
Noccundra Hotel, Wilson Street, Noccundra

Facilities

An information centre is located at 37 Dowling Street, Thargomindah. The building is a renovation of a children's hostel which was built in early 1960, it then became a block of flats and ended up being an empty run-down building until converted to a very modern facility containing the Visitor Information Centre, Library and Coffee Shop. The hostel was used for children who lived in remote properties where they would board at the hostel during the week, returning home on the weekends to their families.

The Information Centre contains brochures, pamphlets and maps on the South West Queensland corner and surrounding areas. It is the first place where people stop when they visit Thargomindah to get the latest road conditions, directions, places to stay, things to see and do and the latest information on events.

Bulloo Shire Council operates Thargomindah Library at Shire Office, Dowling Street, Thargomindah.

Education

Thargomindah State School is a government primary (Early Childhood to Year 6) school for boys and girls at 1 Dowling Street (). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 24 students with 3 teachers and 5 non-teaching staff (3 full-time equivalent).

There are no nearby secondary schools. The options are distance education and boarding school.

Water

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/ThargomindahHydro.jpg" caption="Hot water bore hole into the [[Great Artesian Basin"] ::

Thargomindah has a pressurised hot spring from a bore into the Great Artesian Basin and has produced hydroelectric power from the basin in the past. After 2 years of drilling, a good supply of water was found in 1893. The temperature was 86 °C. In 1924, it was recorded that the bore had a daily output of 2500 m3 and today of 1300 m3 at 84 °C. There is a plentiful water supply for the population and the arid area available for irrigation in front and backyards and public warm showers are provided.

Transport

Thargomindah Airport is located to the north of the town on Kerr Street (). It is operated by the Bulloo Shire Council and there are 2 scheduled flights from Brisbane each week on Regional Express Airlines. There is a sealed runway 1463 m long and an unsealed runway 846 m long. It was completely rebuilt in 2018.

The Dynevor Downs Airport is located immediately to the east of the Dynevor Downs Homestead () with three unsealed runways (north–south, east–west, and NE–SW), the longest being 1050 m, the others being about 800 m.

Climate

Thargomindah has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen BSh), very closely bordering on a hot arid climate (BWh), which is found in the western part of the shire. Summers are sweltering and generally dry except when monsoonal incursions into the continent bring heavy rain, whilst winters are warm and dry with cool to cold mornings.

References

{{cite QPN. 33819. Thargomindah. town in Shire of Bulloo
{{cite QPN. 50494. Thargomindah. locality in Shire of Bulloo
"About Council". [[Bulloo Shire Council]].
(17 April 2020). "Job number 19-068: Bullawarra, Bulloo Downs, Cameron Corner, Dynevor, Noccundra, Nockatunga, Norley, Thargomindah". [[Queensland Government]].
(22 November 2019). "Proposed Locality names and boundaries for the Shire of Bulloo". [[Queensland Government]].
(17 April 2020). "Locality names and boundaries for the Shire of Bulloo". [[Queensland Government]].
{{Queensland Globe
{{Queensland Globe
{{Cite QPN. 39522. Lake Bindegolly National Park. national park in the Shire of Bulloo
{{Cite QPN. 5058. Lake Bullawarra. lake in the Bulloo Shire
"Rare or threatened animals of Lake Bullawarra DIWA nationally important wetland". [[Queensland Government]].
"Margany".
"Native Title – Kullilli Bulloo River Aboriginal Corporation RNTNC".
(1997). "Conrick of Nappa Merrie, a pioneer of Cooper Creek". Itter.
(6 August 1923). "THE STORY OF JOHN CONRICK, PIONEER". [[The News (Adelaide).
(13 August 1923). "THE STORY OF JOHN CONRICK, PIONEER". [[The News (Adelaide).
"Thouringowa Waterhole". University of Newcastle.
Dillon, Paul, The Murder of John Francis Dowling and the Massacre of 300 Aborigines, Connor Court Publishing, 2019.
(31 October 1874). "CUNNAMULLA.". [[The Queenslander]].
(7 May 1954). "AROUND THE CAMP FIRE". [[Townsville Daily Bulletin]].
(1959). "Kings in Grass Castles". Constable & Co.
Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland). (2002). "Heritage Trails of the Queensland Outback". State of Queensland.
"Queensland schools past and present". [[Queensland Family History Society]].
Miller, Simon. (13 June 2012). "Drilling for electricity? Thargomindah's hydroelectric dream 1898". [[State Library of Queensland]].
"Closed Churches".
"St Edmund's Anglican Church – Former".
{{Census 2006 AUS
{{Census 2016 AUS
{{Census 2021 AUS
{{cite QHR. 16122. Dr Ludwig Becker's Grave. 601359
{{cite QHR. 15847. Burke and Wills Dig Tree. 601073
{{cite QHR. 15136. Noccundra Hotel. 600361
"Thargomindah Library". State Library of Queensland.
(9 July 2018). "State and non-state school details". [[Queensland Government]].
"Thargomindah State School".
"ACARA School Profile 2018". [[Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority]].
"Layers: Locality; Schools and school catchments". [[Queensland Government]].
"Aerodrome". [[Bulloo Shire Council]].
"Dynevor Downs Airport".

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