Augathella is a town in western Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, and is part of the Murweh Shire

Murweh Shire Council

The Shire of Murweh is a Local Government Area in the Maranoa region of Queensland, Australia. The administrative centre and largest town in the shire is Charleville.-History:...

. Augathella lies on the Matilda Highway, is 85 kilometres (52.8 mi) north of the town of Charleville

Charleville, Queensland

Charleville is a town in south western Queensland, Australia, 758 kilometres by road west of Brisbane . It is the largest town and administrative centre of the Murweh Shire, which covers an area of 43,905 square kilometres...

, and 748 kilometres (464.8 mi) west of Brisbane

Brisbane

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

 (Queensland's capital). The town lies on the banks of the Warrego River

Warrego River

The Warrego River is situated in south west Queensland and north west New South Wales, Australia. It is the northernmost tributary of the Darling River....

. At the 2006 census

Census in Australia

The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...

, Augathella had a population of 395.

History

The town came into being initially as a resting place for bullock teams lying at the convergence of three bullock tracks from Morven, Tambo, and Charleville. Originally called Burenda it was renamed Ellangowan (still the name of the local watering hole) and when gazetted in 1883 called Augathella. A service centre sprang up to service their needs and the needs of the burgeoning grazing industry.

Today

The town's service centre was bypassed by the new Matilda Highway during the 1980s. Some new businesses have slowly encroached back onto the highway frontage. There is a growing arts centre in the town, a public swimming pool, a bowls club and there is an annual rodeo. Augathella has some polocrosse

Polocrosse

Polocrosse it is a team sport that is played all over the world. It is a combination of polo and lacrosse. It is played outside, on a field , on horseback. Each rider uses a cane stick to which is attached a racquet head with a loose, thread net, in which the ball is carried. The ball is made of...

 teams.

Today, grazing is still the predominant industry of the area. The town is situated on the Warrego River (an Aboriginal word meaning river of sand).

Since 2011 the entrance the town has been marked by 4.5m steel and copper giant sculpture of a meat ant

Meat ant

Meat ants , also known as meat-eater ants or gravel ants, are a species of ant belonging to the Iridomyrmex genus. They can be found throughout Australia.-Nests:...

- in a reference to its former junior football team, named the “Mighty Meat Ants”.

External links

• University of Queensland: Queensland Places: Augathella

See photos, particularly of town murals, here