Timeline – South-west Queensland

1901-1950 | 1951-2000

St George, in the Balonne Shire, has a population of 900 and is in the middle of a devastating drought.

The builder of Charleville's town hall and famous Corones Hotel, George Barber, is elected mayor of Charleville.

John Leahy, well known figure of Thargomindah, is elected to State Parliament.

Duck Creek School opens in an opal-mining area near Quilpie.

Workers on Mitchell Downs in the Booringa Shire boil up prickly pear to keep cattle alive in the drought.

Famished goats, victims of the drought, eat the cane grass church at Thargomindah.

1902 Police catch the Kenniff brothers (James and Patrick), Queensland's last bushrangers.

1903 Drought breaks on March 30.

1904 Bore completed at St George.

1906 Australia's first attempts to use natural gas takes place at Roma.

1909 John Leahy of Thargomindah, state member since 1901, dies.

1911 St George records the highest flood since 1890.

1912 Cunnamulla gets an outdoor picture theatre.

1914 300 men leave Cunnamulla to fight in World War I.

The last Cobb & Co. coach leaves St George.

1915 Electricity comes to Roma.

1917 Railway line extends to Quilpie.

1918 First tree in Bottle Tree Avenue, Roma, is planted to commemorate the war dead.

1919 Queensland-NSW border closes due to the worldwide flu epidemic.

Pioneering aviators Ross and Keith Smith land in Charleville.

1920 The last Cobb & Co. coach leaves Charleville and the Cobb & Co. coach factory closes.

Railway line reaches Injune from Roma.

1921 First plane lands in St.George en route to Sydney.

1922 Quilpie gets its first telephone connection.

First Qantas flight takes off from Charleville's new airport.

1924 Cobb & Co's last service runs between Surat and Yuleba.

1927 Oil fever explodes with the development of Roma's No.1 bore.

1928 Cunnamulla builds the Invincible Picture Theatre.

1930 Pioneering aviator Amy Johnson lands on the outskirts of Quilpie.

1931 A huge fire destroys Charleville Hotel for the second time.

1933 The Maranoa Colliery near Injune provides its first coal.

1935 Amateur enthusiast E.B. Mars starts Radio 4VL in Charleville.

1937 The Tigers Brass Band forms in Cunnamulla.

1938 The first direct telephone call from London to St George.

Quilpie is fully sewered, one of the first towns in Australia.

Charleville schools fumigated to counter the diphtheria epidemic.

1940 The new St George airport completed.

1941 Roma General Hospital completed.

1942 Control of Charleville Airport handed to US Air Force.

Children from coastal areas are evacuated to Cunnamulla.

1943 The Royal Flying Doctor Service base opens in Charleville.

1944 A Boomerang aircraft crashes at Charleville, killing the pilot.

1946 Ivan McCraken registers Hayricks opal mine near Quilpie.

1947 A huge hail storm hits Charleville, leaving the town white.

1950 Drought ends with floods in Charleville.

1901-1950 | 1951-2000

Timeline compiled by: Lesley Jenkins and Sean Iles, Lesley Jenkins and Associates with assistance from all shires and historical societies in the region.