Bajool

History

The town takes its name from the Bajool railway station which was named by the Queensland Railways Department in 1903 using the Aboriginal name for the lagoon on the Archer brothers' property Gracemere. The name of the lagoon has also been written as Padgole and Badul. or stop here. A provisional school opened on 12 March 1888 at Eight Mile Creek under teacher Mr Beck (brother of J. Beck, chairman of the Fitzroy Shire Council); it closed in 1892. The school reopened on 30 September 1895 with teacher Michael Donovan, but closed again on 18 September 1896. On 5 February 1900, a part-time provisional school was established in a private home at a short-lived mining field called San Jose with 10 students under teacher William MacLean. On 2 September 1902, another part-time school was opened in conjunction at the home of Mr H. Cross in Bajool with 6 students. In August 1903, the two part-time schools were combined into Bajool Provisional School with 31 students in another building on Cross's property. In 1903 the school closed for a while and the land it was using was resumed for the railway line from Gladstone to Rockhampton. However, the railway enabled Bajool to grow. The school re-opened on the southern side of Mill Street in late 1904, and became Bajool State School in 1909. Ulam Upper Provisional School opened circa 1892. On 1 January 1909, it became Ulam Upper State School. It closed circa 1961. In 1892, local people in South Ulam applied for a school as there were 21 children in the area. However, disagreements as to the size and location of the school site delayed obtaining government approval. By December 1893, the school building was completed, having been fully funded by local people as they received no government money. Ulam South Provisional School opened…

Geography

Bajool is located on the Bruce Highway, south of Rockhampton and north of Gladstone. Eight-Mile Creek flows to the east of the town. The North Coast railway line enters the locality from the west (Marmor) and exits to the north (Midgee) with two railway stations serving the locality (from north to south): * Archer railway station () * Bajool railway station, serving the town () The locality has the following mountains: * Beschs Hill () * Mount Gindiwarra () * Mount Helen () * Mount Hopeful () * Mount Kelly () * Mount Mccamley ()

Most-observed species

• Ornate Burrowing Frog

  Platyplectrum ornatum (Gray, 1842) · Amphibia
  550
• Willie-wagtail

  Rhipidura leucophrys (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  420
• Red-backed Fairywren

  Malurus melanocephalus (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  402
• Ranoidea caerulea (White, 1790)

  Ranoidea caerulea (White, 1790) · Amphibia
  398
• Torresian Crow

  Corvus orru Bonaparte, 1850 · Aves
  385
• Australian Pipit

  Anthus australis Vieillot, 1818 · Aves
  335
• Golden-headed Cisticola

  Cisticola exilis (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827) · Aves
  317
• Pacific Black Duck

  Anas superciliosa J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  292