Acland

History

The town of Acland is believed to be named by then Commission of Railways, Charles Barnard Evans, whose mother's maiden was Acland. It was originally known as Lagoon Creek. Lagoon Creek Provisional School opened on 22 July 1885. On 1 January 1909 it became Lagoon Creek State School. From 1915 to 1920 it was called Acland State School. It closed on 31 August 1930. Acland town developed following the mining of coal in the area by the Acland Coal Company. The town had a police officer by 1913, at which time there was also a primary school nearby, known as Lagoon Creek. Acland Railway Station Post Office opened on 1 May 1913. It was replaced by Acland Post Office in 1969, which closed October 1998. Acland State School opened on 28 February 1921. A declining population meant the primary school had just 12 students by 2004 and it was mothballed in December 2004. It was permanently closed on 24 August 2005. The school faced Allen Street and was bounded by Allen Street, William Street, Bellevue Street and South Streets (). St Jude's Anglican Church was dedicated on 21 June 1953 by Reverend Rupert Warner Shand. The church had been rebuilt after the previous church was destroyed by the tornado in December 1952. Its closure on 5 December 2006 was approved by Venerable G. F. Harch, Archdeacon of The Downs. In June 2015, it was relocated to the Jondaryan Woolshed to be used as a wedding chapel there. By 1971, with demand for coal for transport in decline, Acland was home to the only remaining coalmine on the Darling Downs. The old [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/colliery colliery] is state heritage-listed, being "the most intact mine site of its age and type in Queensland". From the mine's closure in 1984, to the sale of the site to the Shire of Rosalie in 2000, the workings…

Geography

Acland is north of Oakey, on the Darling Downs, west of Queensland's state capital, Brisbane. It lies in pasture country where there has been some dairy farming, horse breeding and coal mining. Rainfall was measured at the post office between 1912 and 1993, recording an average annual rainfall of .

Most-observed species

• Torresian Crow

  Corvus orru Bonaparte, 1850 · Aves
  1,731
• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  1,564
• Magpie-lark

  Grallina cyanoleuca (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  1,532
• Crested Pigeon

  Ocyphaps lophotes (Temminck, 1822) · Aves
  1,527
• Willie-wagtail

  Rhipidura leucophrys (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  1,400
• Superb Fairywren

  Malurus cyaneus (Ellis, 1782) · Aves
  1,399
• Noisy Miner

  Manorina melanocephala (Latham, 1801) · Aves
  1,272
• Galah

  Eolophus roseicapilla (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  1,261

Most recent

• M 3.9 — 2007-08-25
  40 km W of Kingaroy, Australia
• M 3.6 — 2005-03-07
  36 km WNW of Kingaroy, Australia