Stalworth, Queensland

The locality was officially named and bounded by government on 16 October 1998,[2] although the locality name has been used since the earliest days of settlement.

A hall was built at Stalworth which hosted dances and social events for many years. It opened on Saturday 21 September 1929[3] and was later extended with significant alternations and improvements which were opened on Saturday 3 March 1934.[4][5] Church services and activities were also held in the hall regularly.[6][7] A Stalworth branch society within the Christian Endeavour movement met in the hall and they hosted the Weinholt Christian Endeavour Union rally there in 1937.[8]

Other social activities in the district included the formation of a Stalworth local soccer team.[9]

There was also a cheese factory at Stalworth for a short time. Newspaper articles from 1925 report that it was destroyed by fire on 30 December 1924 along with the adjoining residence,[10] and the circumstances were regarded as suspicious with the possibility of insurance fraud.[11] It was insured for £1100[11] and was owned at the time by E.V.Hobbs who did not reside there but engaged a caretaker.[12] The caretaker was James Wardill.[13] A local farmer giving evidence at the subsequent inquiry held in Wondai Court House[13] testified that the factory had by then been in disuse for many years,[14] however the owner testified that his son-in-law had operated the cheese plant for a short time between approximately 1919 and 1922 generating turnover to the value of £6000.[12] An advertisement was placed in the Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay and Burnett Advertiser newspaper on 6 June 1917 calling for tenders to construct the Stalworth cheese factory by its proprietor E.T.Howes of Memerambi.[15]

One of the first settlers in the district was Sydney Shaw, who subsequently became the first teacher at nearby Abbeywood State School.[16]

Communication services were established relatively early. Telephone was first made available at Stalworth on 25 March 1926.[17] Further, the district is mentioned in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette 23 June 1932 when the Postmaster General was calling for tenders for mail delivery in the area - "Proston and Proston, via Block 10, Stalworth Post Office, Slingers and Jingeri letter-box, twice a week. Tenderers to state additional price required for three trips a week."[18]

There are no schools in Stalworth but primary and secondary schooling (to Year 10) are available in neighbouring Proston. The nearest secondary school to Year 12 is at Murgon.[19]

Children living in the area attended primary school at Abbeywood State School while it operated between the years 1914 and 1969.