Torrens Creek is a small railway settlement on the Townsville to Mount Isa line, 160 kilometres southwest of Charters Towers. It was established in 1885 when construction of the line crossed Torrens Creek. A settlement emerged as it was temporarily the terminus on the line. A police station and school was established. But Torrens Creek never developed into a town and only had a small population.

Today Torrens Creek consists of a hotel, store, caravan park and approximately 15 houses. No railway buildings survive.

The history of Torrens Creek is poorly documented – few images are in the public domain. Joseph Blake was the Headmaster of the Torrens Creek State School from 1916 to 1920. He was a keen photographer and his images of the town provide an insight into Torrens Creek in this period.

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Torrens Creek

Click on images for larger view

Torrens Creek Church of England



School building and shelter shed



Red Cross fund raising event



Goats in school yard



Torrens Creek in dry season



Children making garden beds at school



Headmasters residence

Police station and residence

Loading wool at railway yards

Main street Torrens Creek

Train with cattle wagons crossing Torrens Creek

Wallumbilla is a small township west on the Warrego Highway east of Roma. Blink and you almost miss it. Just another small seemingly unremarkable settlement in the bush. But Wallumbilla makes a special and unusual contribution to Queensland history.

In the 1880s, the Queensland government embarked on a scheme of developing ‘village settlements throughout the colony. Village settlements were designed to attract colonists to the land. The planning of the settlement was based on the concept where settlers lived in a village and farmed a block of land outside the village. Almost like a medieval system. As a guide for surveyors, a typical plan was included in the Handbook for Surveyors. Twenty-nine village settlements were surveyed in Queensland but most did not succeed and little evidence survives.

Wallumbilla, as the aerial photography shows, survives as an a example of a village settlement.

The Queensland government produced a poster that extolling the virtues of village settlements. The poster was intended to attract migrants to Queensland. The poster can be viewed here.

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