Murphys Creek
Queensland
Murphys Creek railway station, 2011
Murphys Creek is located in Queensland
Murphys Creek
Murphys Creek
Coordinates27°27′41″S 152°03′22″E / 27.4613°S 152.0561°E / -27.4613; 152.0561 (Murphys Creek (town centre))
Population629 (2016 census)[1]
 • Density13.077/km2 (33.87/sq mi)
Postcode(s)4352
Area48.1 km2 (18.6 sq mi)
Time zoneAEST (UTC+10:00)
LGA(s)Lockyer Valley Region
CountyChurchill
ParishTaylor[2]
State electorate(s)Lockyer
Federal division(s)Wright
Localities around Murphys Creek:
Cabarlah Fifteen Mile Fifteen Mile
Spring Bluff Murphys Creek White Mountain
Ballard Withcott Lockyer
Upper Lockyer

Murphys Creek is a rural town and locality in the Lockyer Valley Region, Queensland, Australia.[3][4] In the 2016 census, the locality of Murphys Creek had a population of 629 people.[1]

Geography

The locality is located at the foot of the Great Dividing Range. Murphys Creek Road passes through from west to southeast.[5]

History

The locality was originally known as Murphy's Waterhole and Fingal.[6] Peter Murphy was a convict assigned as a servant to Patrick Leslie and accompanied Leslie on his 1841-42 exploration of the Darling Downs.[3][7] Murphy was highly regarded by Leslie and arranged for the Governor of New South Wales to pardon Murphy.[8]

Murphys Creek developed as a railway town on the line between the regional city of Toowoomba and settlements to the east, including Helidon, Ipswich and Brisbane. A railway station in the town was opened in 1867, as a part of the Ipswich-Toowoomba segment of the Southern and Western Railway. Based at the foot of the Great Dividing Range, the station and water tank were intended to provide water and services for steam locomotives about to embark on the difficult journey up the steep slopes of the Toowoomba range. The station was named for a creek that ran through the area, that was in turn named for a shepherd who had built a hut in the area around 1864.[9] A correspondent for the Brisbane Courier newspaper around this time described the site as a "feeding place for the engines" travelling to and from Toowoomba.

Murphy's Creek Post Office opened on 18 May 1868 and closed in 1987.[10]

Residents began to lobby for a school in June 1870.[11] Murphy's Creek Provisional School opened on 3 October 1870.[12][13] In January 1871 it was announced that a state school building and teacher's residence would be erected.[14] The new school building was opened on 1 May 1871[15][16] and the school became Murphy's Creek State School.[17]

A small town, originally named Fingal, quickly sprang up around the station. The township had grown such an extent that by 1877 tenders had been called for the construction of a booking office and passenger platform at the station. These improvements were completed by 1878. However, in 1887 a fire at the station destroyed the lamp room and ladies' waiting room. In 1917 the station ceased to be used as a watering station for trains travelling up the range, with watering stations being provided elsewhere on the line (although a 40,000 litre emergency water tank was constructed at the station in 1921 for emergency purposes).

The township was officially renamed from Fingal to Murphys Creek on 17 January 1924.[18]

The need to maintain the Murphys Creek railway station diminished in the second half of the 20th century with the introduction of the diesel-electric locomotive. These new trains were capable of climbing the steep slopes west of Murphys Creek without the requirement for attached locomotives. Steam operations had ceased completely on the line by the mid 1960s, and the station was finally closed in 1992,[9] with the installation of computerised signalling systems removing the last justification for the continued existence of the station. The station buildings were sold to the local progress association in 1993, and the water tank was reassigned to be used as emergency water storage for the township, as well as for use watering the occasional steam heritage trains that periodically ran from Brisbane to Toowoomba.[19]

A man and a boy died and many buildings in the town were damaged during the 2010–11 Queensland floods when flash flooding affected the area on 10 January 2011.

In the 2011 census, the locality of Murphys Creek had a population of 664 people, living in 150 occupied dwellings.[20] The median age of the population was 38 years, all of whom reported speaking English primarily at home. 65% of the population of the town were born in Australia, 4.2% in England, 1.3% in Zimbabwe, with the remainder being born in New Zealand, the Philippines or the United States of America.[20]

In the 2016 census, the locality of Murphys Creek had a population of 629 people.[1]

Heritage listings

Lockyer Creek Railway Bridge from the south-west, 2009

Murphys Creek has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

Education

Murphy's Creek State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 49 Murphys Creek School Road (27°27′32″S 152°03′05″E / 27.4588°S 152.0513°E / -27.4588; 152.0513 (Murphy's Creek State School)).[23][24] In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 52 students with 6 teachers (4 full-time equivalent) and 9 non-teaching staff (5 full-time equivalent).[25]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Murphys Creek (SSC)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  2. ↑ Queensland State Archives (1964). "Town of Murphy's Creek, Parish of Taylor, County of Churchill". Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
  3. 1 2 "Murphys Creek – town in Lockyer Valley Region (entry 44237)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  4. ↑ "Murphys Creek – locality in Lockyer Valley Region (entry 50110)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  5. ↑ Google (7 January 2024). "Murphys Creek, Queensland" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  6. ↑ "Murphys Creek". Visit the Lockyer Valley. Lockyer Valley Visitor Information Centre. Archived from the original on 21 May 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  7. ↑ Waller, K. G. T., "Leslie, Patrick (1815–1881)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, archived from the original on 19 June 2019, retrieved 2 December 2019
  8. ↑ "THE STORY OF QUEENSLAND 1770-1859". Sunday Mail. No. 484. Queensland, Australia. 4 September 1932. p. 21. Archived from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. 1 2 Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland) (2000). Heritage Trails of the Great South East. State of Queensland. p. 60. ISBN 0-7345-1008-X.
  10. ↑ Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Premier Postal Auctions. Archived from the original on 15 May 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  11. ↑ "THE DRAYTON AND TOOWOOMBA AGRICULTURAL AND HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY". The Toowoomba Chronicle and Queensland Advertiser. No. 672. Queensland, Australia. 8 June 1870. p. 2. Archived from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ↑ "Agency ID 5562, Murphy's Creek State School". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  13. ↑ "OPENING OF THE PRIMARY SCHOOL, MURPHYS CREEK". The Darling Downs Gazette And General Advertiser. Vol. XIII, no. 1054. Queensland, Australia. 3 May 1871. p. 3. Archived from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. ↑ "IPSWICH". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. XXV, no. 4, 152. Queensland, Australia. 24 January 1871. p. 3. Archived from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. ↑ "MURPHY'S CREEK". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. XXV, no. 4, 234. Queensland, Australia. 29 April 1871. p. 5. Archived from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. ↑ "The Courier". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. XXV, no. 4, 237. Queensland, Australia. 3 May 1871. p. 2. Archived from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  17. ↑ Queensland Family History Society (2010), Queensland schools past and present (Version 1.01 ed.), Queensland Family History Society, ISBN 978-1-921171-26-0
  18. ↑ "Murphys Creek (entry 44237)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  19. 1 2 "Murphys Creek Railway Complex (entry 601532)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  20. 1 2 Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Murphys Creek (State Suburb)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  21. ↑ "Main Range Railway (entry 601480)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  22. ↑ "Lockyer Creek Railway Bridge (Guinn Park) (entry 600515)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  23. ↑ "State and non-state school details". Queensland Government. 9 July 2018. Archived from the original on 21 November 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  24. ↑ "Murphy's Creek State School". Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  25. ↑ "ACARA School Profile 2017". Archived from the original on 22 November 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2018.

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