Wowan

History

Wowan takes its name from the Wowan railway station, which in turn was named from the Aboriginal word for Australian brush-turkey. In 1912, two schools opened. One was Dundee Camp Provisional School (in the area that became the town of Wowan), presumably to provide education to the children of the railway workers living in the camp during the construction of the railway. The other was Dundee State School (in what is now Deeford). In 1915 Dundee Camp Provisional School was renamed Wowan Provisional School and on 1 May 1916 became Wowan State School. In 1917 Dundee State School was renamed Deeford State School. Deeford State School closed in 1941. Wowan was settled in 1912. The butter factory opened on 1 April 1919; it was operated by the Dawson Valley Co-operative Company. The second stage of the Dawson Valley railway line opened on 2 February 1915 and extended the line from the town of Wowan via other stations within the locality: * Buneru railway station () A permanent ambulance station was opened in October 1918. Buneru State School opened on 5 October 1918 on the south-western corner of Portion 100 on the (now) Leichhardt Highway (). Following flooding in 1928, the decision was made to relocate and enlarge the school. In 1934, the school was relocated to the south-west corner of Buneru Road and Buneru School Road (). The school closed in 1962. A stump-capping ceremony was held on 20 October 1923 and the church and opened on 13 January 1924. Following the amalgamation of the Methodist Church into the Uniting Church in Australia in 1977, it became Wowan Uniting Church. The church building was damaged in the 2012 floods. The community decided to relocate it to the Wowan Museum and refurbish the building. The Wowan Uniting Church amalgamated with the Biloela…

Geography

The Dee River forms part of the eastern boundary. Both towns are located in the north-east of the locality with Deeford at near a crossing point of the Dee River. There are also a number of neighbourhoods within the location: * Buneru () * Cooneel () * Muruguran () The Leichhardt Highway runs through from north to south through the localityl, passing through the town of Wowan.

Most-observed species

• Torresian Crow

  Corvus orru Bonaparte, 1850 · Aves
  36
• Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

  Cacatua galerita (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  23
• Magpie-lark

  Grallina cyanoleuca (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  22
• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  22
• Peaceful Dove

  Geopelia placida Gould, 1844 · Aves
  21
• Brown Honeyeater

  Lichmera indistincta (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827) · Aves
  18
• Willie-wagtail

  Rhipidura leucophrys (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  18
• Australasian Figbird

  Sphecotheres vieilloti Vigors & Horsfield, 1827 · Aves
  18