Port Wine

History

The district was opened up by the arrival of the Central Western railway in 1883 when the Pinehill railway station was the terminus of the line for one year. In August 1883 there was a land sale for 56 town lots and 180 country lots at Pine Hill (as the town's name was then written). The sale was successful yielding with buyers planning to build hotels and shops in the new town, although the newspaper of the day speculated that the land might be worthless in two years (presumably in the expectation that the town would not remain the terminus). The railway line opened 1 November 1883. The Queensland National Bank relocated their business from Bogantungan (the previous terminus) to Pine Hill in November 1883. The town was described in December 1883 as:"There is dust everywhere, not only in the streets but in the houses.You breathe it, you eat it, you drink it, you sniff it, touch what you will it is there. It sometimes almost blinds you, and it will no doubt assist in producing premature deafness in some cases, for your ears get filled with dust and thus all the five senses are affected ... it ought to have been named The Dust Flat".On 22 September 1884 the railway line had reached its new terminus Alpha and Pine Hill was described as "unsuited for permanent settlement". There was criticism of the Queensland Government for profiting from land sales in short-lived terminus towns like Pine Hill. Pine Hill State School opened circa 1884 but closed in 1905. It reopened on 25 January 1926 but closed circa 1946. Although the town's streets and allotments can still be seen on maps, there is no evidence of any building there today. The town's name lives on in the locality of Pine Hill to the north of Port Wine.

Geography

The Central Western railway line forms the northern boundary of the locality. The Capricorn Highway also traverses the north of the locality from east to west but diverges south from the railway line unlike other localities in which the railway and highway are adjacent. The western branch of the Belyando River enters the locality from the south-west (Sedgeford) while the eastern branch rises in the south of the locality. The two branches merge within the locality and then flow north to exit the locality to the north-west (Beaufort).

Most-observed species

• Whistling Kite

  Haliastur sphenurus (Vieillot, 1818) · Aves
  8
• Australian Bustard

  Ardeotis australis (J.E.Gray, 1829) · Aves
  6
• Magpie-lark

  Grallina cyanoleuca (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  6
• Australian Raven

  Corvus coronoides Vigors & Horsfield, 1827 · Aves
  5
• Pied Butcherbird

  Cracticus nigrogularis (Gould, 1837) · Aves
  5
• Willie-wagtail

  Rhipidura leucophrys (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  5
• Torresian Crow

  Corvus orru Bonaparte, 1850 · Aves
  4
• Artamus leucorhynchos

  Artamus leucorhynchos · Aves
  3