Blair Athol, Queensland

Blair Athol is a former town within Clermont in the Isaac Region, Queensland, Australia.[1] It was obliterated by the development of the Blair Athol coal mine.

Blair Athol
Queensland
Blair Athol
Coordinates
Established1863
Postcode(s)4721
LGA(s)Isaac Region
Risien Street, Blair Athol, 1950

History

Early settler James MacLaren took up a pastoral run in the area in 1863 and named it Blair Athol after the village Blair Atholl, the location of Blair Castle of the Duke of Atholl in Scotland.[1] While sinking a well in 1864, he discovered coal on the property.[2]

By 1873, early shafts were dug, revealing extensive seams of coal. At that time, around 100 people were living in the town and there was a hotel, although no township had been officially surveyed.[3] The town was surveyed in 1878.[4]

Blair Athol Provisional School opened on 6 November 1893. It became a State School in 1909.[5][6]

Blair Athol Post Office opened on 1 July 1927 (a receiving office had been open from 1910) and closed in 1966.[7]

On 18 May 1922, the Queensland Governor Matthew Nathan officially opened Australia's first open cut mine at Blair Athol.[8]

By the 1970s, it became apparent that there were significant coal seams under the town. In order to construct an open cut mine, the town had to be sacrificed.[2]

The school closed on 31 December 1974.[5]

In 1981 a reunion was held at the community hall to mark the final end of the town, following which all of the town was demolished. Only the cemetery remains.[2]

References
  1. "Blair Athol (entry 3138)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  2. Kerogen, Luke. "Coal". Queensland Historical Atlas. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  3. "PEAK DOWNS". Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald & General Advertiser. National Library of Australia. 11 March 1873. p. 4. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  4. "The Morning Bulletin, ROCKHAMPTON". The Morning Bulletin. Rockhampton, Qld.: National Library of Australia. 18 September 1878. p. 2. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  5. "Opening and closing dates of Queensland Schools". Queensland Government. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  6. "Agency ID 6528, Blair Athol State School". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  7. Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Premier Postal Auctions. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  8. "THE GOVERNOR'S TOUR". The Morning Bulletin. Rockhampton, Qld.: National Library of Australia. 25 May 1922. p. 8. Retrieved 25 April 2014.

Further reading
  • Menghetti, Diane (1995), Blair Athol : the life and death of a town, Blair Athol Coal Project, ISBN 978-0-646-26909-2
  • "Blair Athol". Queensland Places. Centre for the Government of Queensland, University of Queensland.
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