Cloncurry Shire Council

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ABOUT CLONCURRY

The first Europeans to traverse the area were Burke and Wills on their epic, and ultimately fatal, transcontinental expedition.

The Cloncurry River was named by Burke after Lady Elizabeth Cloncurry, his cousin, with the town eventually taking its name from the river.

Ernest Henry discovered copper in the area in 1867 and the town sprang up to service the Great Australia Mine to the south.

Roger Sheaffe established the first pastoral run in the Cloncurry district - "Fort Constantine".

The town was surveyed in 1876 and Cloncurry was proclaimed a town in 1884.

Queensland's Northern Line railway reached Cloncurry in December 1907 and was officially opened the next year.

In 1914 a fire broke out in the town resulting in the destruction of the Post Office, the hotel, eleven shops, two store-rooms and a cottage. The telegraph office was saved by employees who kept the office damp and protected with wet blankets. One man died in the blaze which cost an estimated £15,000.

The discovery of uranium at Mary Kathleen brought wealth to the community in the 1950s. Until the development of Mount Isa in the 1960s, Cloncurry was the administrative centre of the region.

The first ever flight of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia took place from Cloncurry on 15 May 1928, using a de Havilland DH.50 aircraft hired from the then small airline, Qantas. John Flynn Place Museum and Art Gallery commemorates the Royal Flying Doctor Service.