Flagstone Creek, Queensland

Flagstone Creek
Queensland
Flagstone Creek; Queensland
	Flagstone Creek State School, 2022
	Flagstone Creek
Coordinates	27.6286°S 152.0947°E
Population	220 (2016 census)[1]
• Density	4.94/km2 (12.80/sq mi)
Postcode(s)	4344
Area	44.5 km2 (17.2 sq mi)
Time zone	AEST (UTC+10:00)
Location	25.5 km (16 mi) ESE of Toowoomba ; 26.6 km (17 mi) WSW of Gatton ; 117 km (73 mi) WSW of Brisbane ;
LGA(s)	Lockyer Valley Region
State electorate(s)	Lockyer
Federal division(s)	Wright
	Suburbs around Flagstone Creek:

Flagstone Creek is a rural locality in the Lockyer Valley Region, Queensland, Australia.[2] In the 2016 census, Flagstone Creek had a population of 220 people.[1]

Geography

Flagstone Creek (the watercourse) flows through from west to north-east.[3]

History

In 1840, the penal colony at Moreton Bay was being prepared to be turned into a free settlement (which ultimately became the city of Brisbane). As there was settlement already occurring on the Darling Downs, there was a need for Lieutenant Owen Gorman, the last commandant of the penal colony, to find a wagon route between the two locations, but the obstacle was the mountains of the Great Dividing Range. There was a route already known at Cunninghams Gap but it was not able to be used by a wagon. A convict John Sterry Baker had escaped from the penal colony in 1826 and had lived among the Goomburra Aboriginal people in the Lockyer Valley area and walked with them on a track to the top of the range. Having returned to the penal colony in 1840, Baker told Gorman of the track up the range and modified an Irish jaunting car to test as a wagon on the route. Together Gorman and Baker ascended the range with their wagon on 17 October 1840 arriving at Eton Vale. Despite the fact that Gorman did not discover the route, it nonetheless became known as Gorman's Gap Road. The route which runs between Upper Flagstone in the west and Flagstone Creek in the east was marked by blazing a line of trees. It became the first gazetted road in Queensland. Today, the road no longer officially exists and is overgrown but can still be followed. There are three monuments along the route, one at each end and the other along the route at Camel's Hump where Gorman took his compass bearing.[4][5][6]

Flagstone Creek Provisional School opened on 18 January 1886, becoming Flagstone State School in 1904.[7][8][9]

Mount Campbell Provisional School opened on 26 October 1891. On 1 January 1909, it became Mount Campbell State School. It closed on 13 March 1960 but reopened on 30 January 1968. It closed permanently on 31 December 1978.[9] It was at 35 Mount Campbell Road (27.6355°S 152.0584°E / -27.6355; 152.0584).[10][11][12]

A Methodist Church had been established at 55 Flagstone School Road (27.6159°S 152.1149°E / -27.6159; 152.1149) by April 1909 and was still in existence as Flagstone Creek Uniting Church in December 2000, but no longer exists as at February 2021.[13][14][15]

In the 2011 census, Flagstone Creek had a population of 213 people.[16]

In the 2016 census, Flagstone Creek had a population of 220 people.[1]

Heritage listings

Sites of cultural heritage identified in Flagstone Creek include:

111 Stockyard Creek Road: Stockyard Creek Community Hall[17]
68 Mount Campbell Creek Road: former Mt Campbell State School[18]
1081 Flagstone Creek Road: Rosedale (house)[19]
849 Flagstone Creek Road: House[20]
56 Flagstone School Road: Flagstone Creek State School and residence[21]
55 Flagstone School Road: Uniting Church (Lockyer Parish)[14]

Education

Flagstone Creek State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 56 Flagstone School Road (27.6155°S 152.1149°E / -27.6155; 152.1149 (Flagstone Creek State School)).[22][23] In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 33 students with 5 teachers (3 full-time equivalent) and 5 non-teaching staff (2 full-time equivalent).[24]

There are no secondary schools in Flagstone Creek. The nearest secondary schools are Lockyer District State High School in Gatton to the north-east and Centenary Heights State High School in Centenary Heights in Toowoomba to the west.[12]

Amenities

Stockyard Creek Community Hall is at 111 Stockyard Creek Road (27.6423°S 152.0635°E / -27.6423; 152.0635 (Stockyard Creek Public Hall)).[17]

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Flagstone Creek (SSC)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
"Flagstone Creek – locality in Lockyer Valley Region (entry 45003)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
Google (15 September 2021). "Flagstone Creek, Queensland" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
"Gormans Gap Road". Register of the National Estate. Government of Australia. Archived from the original on 13 May 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
Hahn, Pamela (May 1994), "The marked tree line: the Gorman's Gap walking trail", Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland (1988), 15 (7): 338–342, ISSN 1447-1345, archived from the original on 28 February 2020, retrieved 13 May 2014
"Gormans Gap". Monument Australia. Archived from the original on 14 May 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
"Opening and closing dates of Queensland Schools". Queensland Government. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
"Agency ID 5220, Flagstone State School". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
Queensland Family History Society (2010), Queensland schools past and present (Version 1.01 ed.), Queensland Family History Society, ISBN 978-1-921171-26-0
"Helidon" (Map). Queensland Government. 1936. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
"Parish of Campbell" (Map). Queensland Government. 1942.
"Queensland Globe". State of Queensland. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
"Lantern Concert at Flagstone Creek". Queensland Times. Vol. XLIX, no. 74[?]2. Queensland, Australia. 2 April 1909. p. 4 (Daily). Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
Gatton Shire Cultural Heritage Study Volume 3: Murphy’s Creek, Ma Ma Creek, Flagstone Creek, Stockyard Creek, pp. 666-667, includes photo
Google (9 February 2021). "55 Flagstone School Road, Flagstone Creek (Street View)" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Flagstone Creek (SSC)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
Gatton Shire Cultural Heritage Study Volume 3: Murphy’s Creek, Ma Ma Creek, Flagstone Creek, Stockyard Creek, pp. 654-655, includes photo
Gatton Shire Cultural Heritage Study Volume 3: Murphy’s Creek, Ma Ma Creek, Flagstone Creek, Stockyard Creek, pp. 656-657, includes photo
Gatton Shire Cultural Heritage Study Volume 3: Murphy’s Creek, Ma Ma Creek, Flagstone Creek, Stockyard Creek, pp. 658-659, includes photo
Gatton Shire Cultural Heritage Study Volume 3: Murphy’s Creek, Ma Ma Creek, Flagstone Creek, Stockyard Creek, pp. 660-661, includes photo
Gatton Shire Cultural Heritage Study Volume 3: Murphy’s Creek, Ma Ma Creek, Flagstone Creek, Stockyard Creek, pp. 662-664, includes photo
"State and non-state school details". Queensland Government. 9 July 2018. Archived from the original on 21 November 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
"Flagstone Creek State School". Retrieved 21 November 2018.
"ACARA School Profile 2018". Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. Archived from the original on 27 August 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2020.

Sources

"Gatton Shire Cultural Heritage Study Volume 3: Murphy's Creek, Ma Ma Creek, Flagstone Creek, Stockyard Creek" (PDF). Lockyer Valley Regional Council. December 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2021.