Blackall is a rural town and locality in the Blackall-Tambo Region, Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Blackall had a population of 1,416 people.
The town is the service centre for the Blackall-Tambo Region. The dominant industry in the area is grazing with over 70 homesteads in the locality (as at 2020).
Yalleroi is another town in the north of the locality ().
Geography
Blackall is in Central Western Queensland, approximately by road from the state capital, Brisbane, 106 kilometres (65 mi) south of Barcaldine and 302 kilometres (187 mi) north of Charleville. The town is situated on the Barcoo River and Landsborough Highway (Matilda Way). Blackall–Jericho Road runs north-east from the town to the locality of Jericho. Isisford–Blackall Road enters from the locality of Isisford to the west.
The locality contains numerous mountains, including:
Battery Knob () Carlton Hill () Cory Peak () Flat Top () Joey Peak () Lorne Mountain () Mount Battery () Mount Calder () Mount Conebreak () Mount Cullen () Mount Harden () Mount Mistake () Mount Northampton () Mount Sentinel () Mount Watson () Mountain Red () One Stone Hill () One Tree Hill () Scrubby Mountain () The Cone () The Nob ()
History
Bidjara (also known as Bidyara, Pitjara, and Peechara) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken by the Bidjara people. The Bidjara language region includes the local government area of the Shire of Murweh, particularly the towns of Charleville, Augathella and Blackall as well as the properties of Nive Downs and Mount Tabor.
Kuungkari (also known as Kungkari and Koonkerri) is a language of Western Queensland. The Kuungkari language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of Longreach Region and Blackall-Tambo Region.
Gungabula (also known as Kongabula and Khungabula) is an Australian Aboriginal language of the headwaters of the Dawson River in Central Queensland. The language region includes areas within the local government area of Maranoa Region, particularly the towns of Charleville, Augathella and Blackall and as well as the Carnarvon Range.
The region was explored in 1846 by explorer Sir Thomas Mitchell and his party. In 1856, Augustus Gregory passed through the area noting that the landscape was a vast plain lacking vegetation, in contrast to Mitchell's description of good country. Blackall was named by Surveyor Abraham H. May after Sir Samuel Blackall, the second Governor of Queensland. During the 1860s the town developed as a service centre for the surrounding pastoral properties. A survey of town allotments was conducted in 1868.
Barcoo Post Office opened on 1 April 1864. It was renamed Blackall in 1868.
Blackall State School opened on 10 September 1877. On 5 October 1964, the school was destroyed by fire, but was subsequently rebuilt.
On Tuesday 29 March 1881, following seven inches of rain, the river burst through the town embankment, completely washing away the stonework of the dam. On Wednesday 30 March, the still-rising river flooded the town's main street and many people in the town's lower-lying areas were forced to evacuate as their homes became fully submerged.
Blackall was one of the first Queensland towns to sink an artesian bore in 1885. It supplies the town with water from the Great Artesian Basin. The water temperature is 58 degrees Celsius. There is an artesian spa bath at the aquatic centre and locally produced soft drinks are made from the artesian water.
The first Methodist church in Blackall opened on Easter Sunday 13 April 1884. On Thursday 23 January 1913 a new Methodist church opened. The present church building (now the Blackall Uniting Church) was established –1958.
Blackall claims to be the home of the original Black Stump, which marks the original Astro Station established in 1887. Places west of this point are said to be 'beyond the black stump'. The Black Stump was moved from its original location to make it more accessible to tourists, and can now be found on the boundary of the Blackall State School grounds, Thistle Street, Blackall. Blackall has many attractions for public use and entertainment, including the Blackall showground, the local pool and the historic Blackall Woolscour.
In December 1890 the Australian Labour Federation’s executive met in Blackall to draw up plans for a proper organisational structure for the Labour Party. Four years earlier, in December 1886, the first meeting of the first shearers’ union, which later became the Australian Labor Party, took place in Blackall. This is commemorated by the Australian Labor Federation Memorial in Short Street.