Cloncurry, Queensland
Cloncurry is a town in north-west Queensland, Australia.
Location and infrastructure
It is located about 780 kilometers west of Townsville, 120 kilometers east of Mount Isa and approximately 1,700 kilometers north- west of the capital Brisbane. Cloncurry is situated on the eponymous river, which is about 300 kilometers north of the town in the Flinders River flows, which in turn flows north of Normanton in the Gulf of Carpentaria. It is the seat of the same local government area ( LGA) Cloncurry Shire Council.
Today Cloncurry is a small town with 2384 inhabitants and is located in an area in which mainly cattle is operated. The city lies at the junction of several major highways. To the east of the Flinders Highway leads to Townsville on the east coast of the country. Westward the Barkly Highway Mount Isa via the Northern Territory. After Normanton in the north, the Burke Developmental Road and leads to Longreach in the southeast of the Landsborough Highway. The latter two streets are named together as Matilda Highway after the famous Australian song Waltzing Matilda. Moreover, Cloncurry has a connection to the network of Queensland Rail (QR), the railway company in the state of Queensland and has an airport outside the city.
History
The first Europeans in the area came to the Burke and Wills Expedition 1860/61. Robert O'Hara Burke named the river after his cousin Lady Elizabeth Cloncurry. The first settlement was established in 1867 after copper deposits were discovered in the area and served the settlement to supply the resulting mine. In 1884 the city Cloncurry was founded and took over, passing the name of the river.
For a long time Cloncurry known to 53.1 ° C, the highest ever measured in Australia temperature was measured on 16 January 1889. Today, however, this is disputed due to the then still very inaccurate and inadequate measurement methods and it is assumed that the temperature be about 49 ° C.
1922 taught Qantas between Charleville and Cloncurry the second regular operating airline of Australia, a. The then very young company named after the region of Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services, QANTAS
On the western edge of the Cloncurry field 1923 silver-lead ore was discovered in 1927 and today's city of Mount Isa was built at this location. Up to this time Cloncurry was the largest city in northwestern Queensland.
On May 15, 1928 took off from the airport in Cloncurry the first flight of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia ( RFDS ). At the time, this was still an experiment under the name Aerial Medical Service ( AMS). The aircraft used was a borrowed by QANTAS machine. Today, a RFDS Museum in the city recalls the event.
Solar Park
In the near Cloncurry a larger solar power plant was planned. It should generate about 30 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year. This Cloncurry would have been the first city in Australia, which would have been supplied exclusively with solar power. The completion of the power plant was planned for early 2010. Due to light pollution concerns, the project came to a halt. After a photovoltaic system was planned that supply 500 households, and should go the end of 2012. The Queensland government pulled back in May 2012, the financing of this project for cost reasons.