Thargomindah is situated along the Adventure Way, 1000 kilometres west of
Brisbane. The road is sealed to
Thargomindah, with only a 22 kilometre stretch remaining unsealed to the South Australian Border. It is the ideal touring route to or from South Australia via the historic Burke & Wills “Dig Tree” on
Cooper Creek at
Nappa Merrie Station, and the famous
Strzelecki Track and the
Flinders Ranges. Gazetted in 1874, shortly after Vincent James Dowling settled “
Thargomindah Station” (1864), the town takes its name from an Aboriginal word meaning “cloud of dust”.
Thargomindah Post Office 1938
Cunnamulla-Thargomindah Mail Car
Thargomindah Information Sept' 1952
is a town in South West Queensland, Australia on the Adventure Way, approximately 1,100 kilometres west of
Brisbane,
Thargomindah is the administrative centre for the Shire of Bulloo and lies on the Bulloo River. At the 2006 census,
Thargomindah had a
population of 203.
The town was first settled in the 1860s at a crossing of the Bulloo River. A
post office was established in 1870 and a telegraph line connected the town to
Cunnamulla in 1881. The 1890s saw the town prosper as the service and administrative centre of a pastoral district.
Willie Low Hing of
Thargomindah, Qld - birthplace: Canton, China - departed
Brisbane, Queensland on the Australian 29 August 1904
Willie Low Hing of Thargomindah
Certificates of Domicile issued under The Immigration Restriction Act 1901 and Regulations,
Willie Low Hing Certificate of Domicile
was one of the first towns in Australia to produce hydroelectric power from 1898 until 1951, which then was taken over by diesel generators until 1988. The town was later connected to the national power
grid via
Cunnamulla. The old
bore 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. The power station is still operating with a daily opening to the public.
Thargomindah Post Office 1956
Airstrip at Thargominda
Thargomindah July 1955
The Airport is located near the township. A railway extension to the town was planned for many years, however it never eventuated. The railway did reach
Cunnamulla in 1898 and
Quilpie in 1917.
Jack Larkins
Photograph of Jack (Crackerjack) Larkins, at 94 years of age, taken in
Brisbane General
Post Office museum. He is relating some amusing incidents of his coaching days on the outback mail
services to his daughter, Mona Heinemann (holding bugle) of Coorparoo and his niece, Edith London, of Kallangur. Edith's father (Jack's brother) Harry held the Royal Mail contract on the
Quilpie-
Thargomindah run (129
miles) in 1926.
.