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Westwood, Queensland

Summary

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Westwood is a town in the Rockhampton Region and a locality split between the Rockhampton Region and the Shire of Banana in Queensland, Australia.[2][3][4] It was the first town that was gazetted by the Queensland Government. In the 2021 census, the locality of Westwood had a population of 199 people.[5]

Westwood
Queensland
Westwood Hotel, 2022
Westwood is located in Queensland
Westwood
Westwood
Coordinates23°36′52″S 150°09′24″E / 23.6144°S 150.1566°E / -23.6144; 150.1566 (Westwood (town centre))
Population199 (SAL 2021)[1]
Postcode(s)4702
Area445.6 km2 (172.0 sq mi)
Time zoneAEST (UTC+10:00)
Location
LGA(s)
State electorate(s)Fitzroy
Federal division(s)Flynn
Localities around Westwood:
Gogango Wycarbah Bushley
Gogango Westwood Boulder Creek
Oakey Creek
Pheasant Creek Dululu Wura

Geography edit

The northern half of the locality of Westwood is in Rockhampton region while the southern part is in the Shire of Banana.[6]

Westwood is 50 kilometres (31 mi) southwest of the city of Rockhampton. The town of Westwood consists of a handful of houses, a hotel, and a police station.

The town is in the south-east of the locality with two other neighbourhoods in the north-east of locality

  • Huxham (23°36′00″S 150°10′00″E / 23.6°S 150.1666°E / -23.6; 150.1666 (Huxham (neighbourhood))). It takes its name from the Huxham railway station, which in turn was named on 21 August 1919 by the Queensland Railways Department after John Saunders Huxham, the Home Secretary of Queensland.[7]
  • Spring Creek (23°35′00″S 150°10′00″E / 23.5833°S 150.1666°E / -23.5833; 150.1666 (Spring Creek (neighbourhood)))[8]

The Capricorn Highway passes through the town, and the intersection with the Leichhardt Highway is a few kilometres to the southwest.[6]

The Blackwater railway line enters the locality from the north (Wycarbah), passes through the town, and exits to the south-west (Gogango).[6]

The predominant land use is grazing on native vegetation.[6]

History edit

 
Old Westwood railway station
 
Westwood School, claimed to be the oldest schoolhouse in Central Queensland, 1930
 
Front and rear views of the new state sanitorium at Westwood, June 1919

Although towns such as Brisbane, Maryborough and Rockhampton had been gazetted by the New South Wales Government prior to the separation of Queensland, Westwood was the first town to be gazetted by the newly established Queensland Government on 23 May 1860. Although the area was named Prestone on the original survey plan, Queensland Governor George Bowen decided to name the town Westwood after Westwood House, the home of Sir John Pakington, the Secretary of State for the Colonies and War in 1852.[2][9]

On 29 September 1867, the first stage of the Great Northern Railway (now known as the Central Western Line) reached the area from Rockhampton, and Westwood became the railhead.[10] The first load of wool was railed from the town on 23 August.

Westwood State School opened on 26 August 1872.[11][12]

A Protestant church opened in Westwood on Thursday 2 October 1873.[13]

The town was meant to be the railhead for only a short time. However, bureaucracy and financial difficulties for the state meant that the next section of the line did not commence construction until 1873. The significance of Westwood declined when the railhead moved further west.

On Saturday 6 September 1919, John Huxham, the Queensland Home Secretary opened the Westwood Sanatorium,[14][15] a 64-bed sanitorium was opened in Westwood to treat miner's phthisis,[16] a lung disease suffered by miners from working in dusty conditions. Later, it treated patients with tuberculous. In 1953, a ¾ mile bitumen road was built from the Huxham railway siding (just to the north of Westwood) to the sanitorium and named Haigh Drive in memory of Leonard Garfield Haigh, the former chairman of the Rockhampton Hospitals Board from 2 June 1933 to 16 February 1953. Commencing with a tiled-roof waiting shed at the siding with a plaque commemorating Haigh, the drive to the sanitorium was flanked with Peltophorum trees and was officially opened by James Larcombe (MLA for Rockhampton) in the presence of Haigh's widow on Sunday 1 November 1953.[17][18] More effective medical treatments for tuberculous resulted in the closure of the sanitorium in 1959, but the building continued to be used as a nursing home until the 1980s. The sanitorium buildings were then relocated or demolished; one is in use as a private home in Emerald.[19]

In 1996, Westwood held its first Anzac Day ceremony at its new memorial which was dedicated the same day.[20] The event, organised by the Westwood Progress Association, was attended by approximately 80 people including official guests Fitzroy Shire mayor Mary Seierup, state MP Jim Pearce and federal MP Paul Marek.[21] Fitzroy Shire councillor Vince Reynolds was the master of ceremonies while Uniting Church pastor Dorothy Demack served as the worship leader.[21]

Westwood was in the Shire of Fitzroy until local government amalgamations in 2008 resulted in it being in the Rockhampton Region.[22]

Demographics edit

At the 2006 census, Westwood and the surrounding area had a population of 253.[23]

At the 2011 census, Westwood had a population of 240.[24]

In the 2016 census, the locality of Westwood had a population of 174 people.[25]

In the 2021 census, the locality of Westwood had a population of 199 people.[5]

Heritage listings edit

Westwood has the following heritage-listed sites:

Education edit

Westwood State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 108 Herbert Street (23°37′02″S 150°09′16″E / 23.6173°S 150.1545°E / -23.6173; 150.1545 (Westwood State School)).[27][28] In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 13 students with 2 teachers (1 full-time equivalent) and 4 non-teaching staff (2 full-time equivalent).[29] In 2022, the school had 20 students.[30]

There are no secondary schools in Westwood. The nearest government secondary school is Rockhampton State High School in Wandal, Rockhampton to the north-east.[6]

References edit

  1. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Westwood (Qld) (suburb and locality)". Australian Census 2021 QuickStats. Retrieved 28 June 2022.  
  2. ^ a b "Westwood – town (entry 37148)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  3. ^ "Westwood – locality in Rockhampton Region (entry 48930)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  4. ^ "Westwood – locality in Banana Shire (entry 49579)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  5. ^ a b Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Westwood (SAL)". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 28 February 2023.  
  6. ^ a b c d e "Queensland Globe". State of Queensland. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  7. ^ "Huxham – locality unbounded in Rockhampton Regional (entry 16551)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  8. ^ "Spring Creek – locality unbounded in Rockhampton Regional (entry 39319)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  9. ^ "Westwood celebrates its place in Queensland's 150 year history". statements.qld.gov.au. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  10. ^ The Centenary of the Central Line Knowles, J.W. Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, September, 1967 pp181-202
  11. ^ "Opening and closing dates of Queensland Schools". Queensland Government. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  12. ^ "Agency ID 5823, Westwood State School". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  13. ^ "THE DOCK WAREHOUSES". Rockhampton Bulletin. Vol. XIII, no. 1859. Queensland, Australia. 2 October 1873. p. 2. Retrieved 4 December 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. ^ "WESTWOOD SANATORIUM". The Capricornian. Vol. 44, no. 36. Queensland, Australia. 6 September 1919. p. 31. Retrieved 13 November 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. ^ "Westwood Sanatorium on its opening day 1919". Australian Country Hospital Heritage Association. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  16. ^ "Westwood Sanatorium". The Telegraph. No. 14, 597. Queensland, Australia. 8 September 1919. p. 7 (SECOND EDITION). Retrieved 13 November 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  17. ^ "HAIGH DRIVE OPENED". The Central Queensland Herald (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1930 - 1956). Rockhampton, Qld.: National Library of Australia. 5 November 1953. p. 11. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  18. ^ "Untitled". The Central Queensland Herald (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1930 - 1956). Rockhampton, Qld.: National Library of Australia. 5 November 1953. p. 11. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  19. ^ "Westwood Sanatorium on opening day 1919". www.achha.org.au. Archived from the original on 29 February 2016. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  20. ^ "Westwood War Memorial". Monument Australia. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  21. ^ a b Salecich, Judith (22 April 2017). "Remembering Westwood's first Anzac Day ceremony (1996)". Love in a little black diary. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  22. ^ "Fitzroy Shire". Queensland Places. University of Queensland. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  23. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Westwood (Fitzroy Shire) (State Suburb)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 25 July 2009.
  24. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Westwood". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 26 December 2015.  
  25. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Westwood (SSC)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 20 October 2018.  
  26. ^ "Adolphus William Copper Smelter and Dee Township (entry 700013)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  27. ^ "State and non-state school details". Queensland Government. 9 July 2018. Archived from the original on 21 November 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  28. ^ "Westwood State School". Westwood State School. 1 December 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  29. ^ "ACARA School Profile 2017". Archived from the original on 22 November 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  30. ^ "School annual report 2022" (PDF). Westwood State School. Retrieved 22 July 2023.

Further reading edit

  • Hansen, Ronald James (1971), The geology of the Westwood Intrusion, Central Eastern Queensland, Brisbane
  • Hanrahan, Gail Marguerite (1997), Westwood State School : 125 years, 26 August 1872-1997, Westwood State School
  • Hoch, Isabel (2009), Medical care at Westwood 1919-1984, Rockhampton & District Historical Society, retrieved 27 December 2015

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Westwood, Queensland.
  • "Westwood". Central Queensland Family History Association Inc. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  • "Town map of Westwood". Queensland Government. 1973.

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