Middleton

History

European exploration of the Middleton area began with explorer John McKinlay's expedition in search of the missing Burke and Wills expedition in 1862. McKinlay named a watercourse in the area Middleton Creek after his second-in-charge Thomas Middleton. The Middleton Hotel was established at the creek crossing as a Cobb & Co changing station on the route between Winton and Boulia. Another Middleton Provisional School opened in 1937 and closed circa 1943. Middleton Post Office opened by March 1916 (a receiving office had been open from 1889) and closed in 1968. The 2016 film Goldstone was filmed in Middleton.

Geography

The locality is on the Kennedy Developmental Road, northwest of the state capital Brisbane and southeast of the regional centre of Mount Isa. Lying within the locality is the former site of Collingwood (), a town that lost out in regional competition to its neighbour, Winton. It had been given up by about 1900. The region in which Middleton lies is a circular zone that has been shown to be a crustal anomaly. Scientists from Geoscience Australia believe that it is an impact structure formed by an asteroid that struck the area about 300 million years ago. Final proof of this as the anomaly's genesis has not yet been found.

Most-observed species

• Black Kite

  Milvus migrans (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  32
• Willie-wagtail

  Rhipidura leucophrys (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  26
• Letter-winged Kite

  Elanus scriptus Gould, 1842 · Aves
  14
• Australian Kestrel

  Falco cenchroides Vigors & Horsfield, 1827 · Aves
  14
• Magpie-lark

  Grallina cyanoleuca (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  14
• Zebra Finch

  Taeniopygia guttata (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  13
• Gray Falcon

  Falco hypoleucos Gould, 1841 · Aves
  12
• Australian Raven

  Corvus coronoides Vigors & Horsfield, 1827 · Aves
  11