Bakers Creek

History

The locality was named after the creek, which in turn was named after John I. Baker, a customs officer in Mackay in 1863. Dundula State School opened on 28 August 1922 with 37 children enrolled on the first day, with 45 enrolled by the end of 1922. The first headmaster was Courtney Hoffman. Bakers Creek Post Office opened on 1 July 1927 (a receiving office had been open since 1909) and closed in 1979. In 1943, a USAAF aircraft crashed in the locality, killing 40 of the 41 people on board. The Bakers Creek air crash is Australia's worst aviation disaster by death toll. A memorial to the disaster was built in 1981 and is located in the grounds of the Bakers Creek Community Hall. In 1964, the Queensland Government built a meatworks. In 1978, it was sold to Thomas Borthwick & Sons who enlarged the facility. It was purchased by NH Foods in 1994 but continues to trade as Thomas Borthwick & Sons.

Geography

Bakers Creek is located south of Mackay. The Bruce Highway and the North Coast railway line traverse the locality from south to north, passing the town which is served by the Bakers Creek railway station with a second railway station Dundula in the north of the locality. The Dundula railway station was named on 30 October 1913 by J. Strachan, the Mackay railway traffic manager of the Queensland Railways Department as an Aboriginal word meaning eucalypt tree. In turn, the surrounding neighbourhood and also the school are named Dundula. The land in Bakers Creek is flat and low-lying (under 10 metres above sea level) and is well-watered by the watercourse Bakers Creek which flows into the Coral Sea. To the north of mouth of the creek is the Bakers Creek Conservation Park. The land is predominantly used for growing sugarcane and there is a network of cane tramways to deliver the harvested sugarcane to the local sugar mills.

Most-observed species

• Magpie-lark

  Grallina cyanoleuca (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  1,165
• Masked Lapwing

  Vanellus miles (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  1,122
• Australian Ibis

  Threskiornis molucca (Cuvier, 1829) · Aves
  1,054
• Torresian Crow

  Corvus orru Bonaparte, 1850 · Aves
  1,054
• Australasian Figbird

  Sphecotheres vieilloti Vigors & Horsfield, 1827 · Aves
  982
• Rainbow Lorikeet

  Trichoglossus haematodus (Linnaeus, 1771) · Aves
  973
• Willie-wagtail

  Rhipidura leucophrys (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  938
• Peaceful Dove

  Geopelia placida Gould, 1844 · Aves
  823