Another abandoned station is Keelbottom railway station (19°26′34″S146°19′00″E / 19.4427°S 146.3168°E / -19.4427; 146.3168 (Keelbottom railway station)) on the now-closed Greenvale railway line.[3]
In 1863 Phillip Somer and Matthew Hervey were granted the license to occupy the 42 square miles (110 square kilometres) and 25 square miles (65 km2) of the Keelbottom and Watershed Pastoral Runs respectively, by the Crown Lands Office in Brisbane.[5][6] By late 1865 these men had transferred their holdings of the Emysland, Dotswood, Nursiedob, Keelbottom, Watershed, and Tala (or Tula).runs to the Bank of New South Wales. These properties lay on one or both sides of Keelbottom Creek.[7] Eventually Dotswood Station comprised the runs of Arthurs Peak, Back Plains, Hardwick, Pall Mall, Poon Boon, Redyke (or Red Dyke), Smiths Brook and Yallock Vale, as well as those already mentioned.[8][9][10]
The neighbourhood of Macrossan takes its name from the Macrossan railway station, which in turn is named after the politician John Murtagh Macrossan.[11][12]
This locality was within the Star River Mineral Field, which was discovered in 1865.[13] The following year John Macrossan passed through the area.[14] The Ravenswood Gold Field, discovered in 1868, eventually extended north into the Star River Mineral Field.[15][8] From 1881 silver-lead deposits in the Ravenswood mining district, the most promising at Argentine, were being mined in what was called a silver mania.[16][17] However this ended suddenly in 1883, after the failure of a locally capitalized smelting works and low returns.[18][19]
In late 1872 1,100 acres (450 hectares) on Keelbottom Creek, Kennedy district were reserved for the town reserve of Boolangalla.[20]
In the town of Argentine, 67 town lots, at £16 per acre, and 3 mineral selections, were offered for sale by the Crown Lands Office in October 1882. By the next year the town consisted of several public houses, one butcher's shop, a baker's shop, three stores and two gardens.[21][22][23] In December 1888 the name of the Star River Post Office was changed to Argentine Post Office.[24]
Demographics
In the 2016 census Dotswood had a population of 101 people.[25]
In the 2021 census, Dotswood had a population of 83 people.[1]
Surgeons Lookout is a tourist attraction (19°41′11″S146°32′19″E / 19.6864°S 146.5387°E / -19.6864; 146.5387 (Surgeons Lookout)).[28]
Amenities
Macrossan Park is a free campground overlooking the Burdekin River, situated between the rail and road bridges 20°00′12″S146°26′20″E / 20.003417°S 146.438889°E / -20.003417; 146.438889.[29]
Industry
Most of this location is part of the Department of Defence's Townsville Field Training Area.[30]
^"Dotswood – locality in Charters Towers Region (entry 49746)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
^ abcd"Railway stations and sidings - Queensland". Queensland Open Data. Queensland Government. 2 October 2020. Archived from the original on 5 October 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
^Dotswood (Map). Open Street Map. 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
^"Classified Advertising". The Courier (Brisbane). Vol. XVII, no. 1630. Queensland, Australia. 5 May 1863. p. 4. Retrieved 6 February 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Classified Advertising". The Courier (Brisbane). Vol. XVIII, no. 1802. Queensland, Australia. 21 November 1863. p. 4. Retrieved 6 February 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Classified Advertising". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. XX, no. 2, 404. Queensland, Australia. 12 October 1865. p. 5. Retrieved 7 February 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^ ab"Sketch map of goldfields in the vicinity of Charters Towers [cartographic material] : Charters Towers, Ravenswood, Windsor, Carrington, Strathalbyn, Piccadilly, and part of Star River Mineral Field". Trove. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
^Bell, Peter (August 1996). "Townsville Field Training Area: Conservation Management Plan for European Cultural Heritage". Report to Department of Defence: 14.
^"Macrossan – railway station in the Charters Towers Region (entry 20500)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
^"TELEGRAPHIC". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. XX, no. 2, 424. Queensland, Australia. 4 November 1865. p. 5. Retrieved 6 February 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^"The Late Hon. John Murtagh Macrossan, M.L.A." Cairns Post. Vol. VIII, no. 613. Queensland, Australia. 8 April 1891. p. 2. Retrieved 6 February 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^"THE NEW GOLD FIELD". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. XXIII, no. 3, 540. Queensland, Australia. 6 February 1869. p. 5. Retrieved 6 February 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Telegraphic News". The Northern Miner. Vol. XVI, no. 492. Queensland, Australia. 13 September 1881. p. 2. Retrieved 6 February 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Townsville". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. XXXVI, no. 7, 396. Queensland, Australia. 24 September 1881. p. 6. Retrieved 6 February 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^Bolton, G. C. (1970). A Thousand Miles Away : A HISTORY OF NORTH QUEENSLAND TO 1920 (2nd ed.). Sydney: AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY PRESS. p. 113. ISBN 0 7081 0048 1.
^Bell, Peter (August 1996). "Townsville Field Training Area: Conservation Management Plan for European Cultural Heritage". Report to Department of Defence: 58–64.
^"OFFICIAL NOTIFICATIONS". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. XXVII, no. 4, 710. Queensland, Australia. 4 November 1872. p. 3. Retrieved 6 February 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Current News". The Queenslander. Vol. XXII, no. 369. Queensland, Australia. 21 October 1882. p. 533. Retrieved 8 February 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Classified Advertising". The Queenslander. Vol. XXII, no. 369. Queensland, Australia. 21 October 1882. p. 562. Retrieved 8 February 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Mining News". The Northern Miner. Vol. XVIII, no. 749. Queensland, Australia. 7 June 1883. p. 2. Retrieved 8 February 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Monthly Postal Guide". The Telegraph. No. 5, 045. Queensland, Australia. 12 December 1888. p. 2. Retrieved 6 February 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Burdekin River Rail Bridge (former) (entry 600442)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
^"Tourist points - Queensland". Queensland Open Data. Queensland Government. 18 November 2020. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
^"Macrossan Park". www.visitcharterstowers.com.au. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
^Bell, Peter (1996). "Townsville Field Training Area: Conservation Management Plan for European Cultural Heritage". Report to Department of Defence: 3, 7.