Morella

History

Morella railway station () on the Central Western railway line was named by the Queensland Railways Department on 7 August 1925. It is an Aboriginal word meaning small hill. Morella Post Office opened on 1 July 1927 and closed in 1979. Town lots were sold in November 1948 centred on . Local women formed the Morella branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association in October 1944. Initially they met at the Hereward and Tandara homesteads. About September 1951 they opened their own hall (). Evesham State School opened on 23 January 1967. It was mothballed on 31 December 2009 and then permanently closed on 31 December 2010. The school was on Silsoe Road. The school's website was archived. In the , Morella had a population of 33 people. In January 2019, it was decided to reduce the number of localities within Longreach Region by amalgamating the localities to the north and west of the town of Longreach into the locality of Longreach. The localities amalgamated were: Camoola, Chorregon, Ernestina, Maneroo, Morella, Tocal, and Vergemont. As a consequence of this amalgamation, the Longreach Region has only three localities: Longreach, Ilframcombe and Isisford.

Geography

The Landsborough Highway passed from south-east to north-west through the locality.

Most-observed species

• Black Kite

  Milvus migrans (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  16
• Black-faced Woodswallow

  Artamus cinereus Vieillot, 1817 · Aves
  13
• Australian Bustard

  Ardeotis australis (J.E.Gray, 1829) · Aves
  11
• Australian Kestrel

  Falco cenchroides Vigors & Horsfield, 1827 · Aves
  9
• Cockatiel

  Nymphicus hollandicus (Kerr, 1792) · Aves
  8
• Willie-wagtail

  Rhipidura leucophrys (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  8
• Brown Songlark

  Megalurus cruralis Vigors & Horsfield, 1827 · Aves
  8
• Australasian Bushlark

  Mirafra javanica Horsfield, 1821 · Aves
  7