Dalby

Dalby is a town and locality in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia.

Dalbyis a town and locality in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. Dalby is within and is the administrative centre of the Western Downs Region. At the 2016 census, Dalby had a population of 12,719.

Baranggum (also known as Barrunggam, Barunggam Parrungoom, Murrumgama) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken by the Baranggum people. The Baranggum language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Western Downs Regional Council, particularly Dalby, Tara, Jandowae and west towards Chinchilla.Dalby was founded in the early 1840s at a place known locally as "The Crossing" on Myall Creek, a tributary of the Condamine River. The first settler was Henry Dennis, who explored the region and chose land for himself and others in the locality. Today an obelisk in Edward Street denotes the location where Dennis camped.

A small settlement was founded to assist travellers heading north to nearby Jimbour Station. The explorer Ludwig Leichhardt visited the area in 1844, on his way to Port Essington.In February 1853, the New South Wales government sent the Deputy Surveyor General Captain Samuel Perry to the area to survey a township. In August of the following year, Charles Douglas Eastaughffe arrived with a document under the Seal of the NSW Government officially proclaiming 'Dalby' a township. Eastaughffe was later appointed Chief Constable and remained in Dalby until his retirement.The name of the town is believed to come from the village of Dalby on the Isle of Man and reflects immigration from the Isle of Man in the mid-19th century. The name was apparently chosen by Captain Samuel Perry when he surveyed the settlement in 1853.

Myall Creek Post Office also opened in 1854 in Roche's store, with Mr Simpson as the first postmaster. It was renamed Dalby in 1855.In 1859, Dalby became part of the new Colony of Queensland.

Dalby State School opened on 1 June 1861. In 1869 the school split into Dalby Boys State School Dalby Girls State School. In 1885 the girls' school became Dalby Girls & Infants State School. In 1893 the two schools were combined as Dalby State School. In 1914 the school expanded to include a secondary school, which closed in 1954, due to the establishment of a separate secondary school, Dalby State High School.In August 1863 Dalby was officially proclaimed a municipality, the Borough of Dalby, in the Queensland Government Gazette.

Dalby Non-Vested School opened as a Roman Catholic girls school in 1864 and in 1866 became a non-vested school (the teachers' salaries were paid by the Queensland Government but the government did not operate the school). Circa 1880, the school either closed or continued without government funding.On Sunday 5 August 1866 Bishop James Quinn dedicated St Joseph's Catholic Church.Dalby was linked by the Western railway line to Ipswich on 16 April 1868.On Sunday 20 June 1869 the first Presbyterian church was opened in Dalby. Reverend George Grimm had conducting regular services since 1865.St Columba's School was a Catholic primary school which was opened in 1877 by the Sisters of Mercy. In 2008, it merged with St Mary's College to create Our Lady of the Southern Cross College.From 1873 to 1949 the electoral district of Dalby was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland.

Dalby was believed to have a healthy climate and in 1900 the Queensland Government built the Jubilee Sanitorium for consumptive patients. In 1904 the Dalby Town Council erected therapeutic thermal baths using artesian water from a local bore for those wishing to improve their health by "taking the waters". In 1938, the council closed the artesian baths as interest in "taking the waters" was declining. Medical opinion became increasingly doubtful of the benefits of bathing in mineral waters, favouring drugs and physiotherapy as better treatments.Kincora Provisional School opened in 1908 "via Dalby" and was renamed Moonie River Provisional School circa December 1908. It closed circa 1916.

On 8 December 1912 the Dalby Methodist Church in Condamine Street was officially opened by the Reverend Henry Youngman, the President of the Queensland Methodist Conference. Im March 1949 it was announced that a new church would be built with the original church to be moved on the site and be used as a church hall. On 1 October 1949 the foundation stone for the new Dalby Methodist Church was laid by Reverend Henry William Prouse, the President of the Queensland Methodist Conference. Construction commenced in May 1950, but there were delays in obtaining building materials until August 1951. The new church was dedicated on Saturday 8 December 1951 by Reverend Tom Hardy Blackburn. When the Methodist Church amalgamated into the Uniting Church in Australia in 1977, it became the Dalby Uniting Church.The Dalby War Memorial was unveiled by the Queensland Governor, Matthew Nathan, on 26 July 1922.

The Paragon Cafe was purchased in 1935 by Milton (Miltiadis) Dimitrios Samios part of the cultural phenomenon of Greek cafes in Queensland. Paragon Cafe employed three men and six women with taking increasing from 90 pounds to 200 pounds within the first year of trading.The Dalby Olympic Swimming Pool complex was constructed in 1936 and is the earliest identified Olympic standard pool in Queensland constructed outside Brisbane.

Dalby State High School opened on 2 February 1954. Bunya Campus was acquired by Dalby State High School at the start of 2011 and has since provided students who live out of the catchment area the opportunity to attend Dalby State High School and participate in all it has to offer as a boarding student.St Mary's College was a Catholic secondary school opened on 21 January 1963 by the Christian Brothers. In 2008, it merged with St Columba's School to create Our Lady of the Southern Cross College.Dalby South State School opened on 29 March 1965.Dalby Christian School was opened on 1 February 1981 by the Dalby Gospel Chapel.The Christian Outreach College opened on 28 January 1984. It closed on 18 September 1991.Dalby Library opened in 2014.

Dalby has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa in the Köppen climate classification) and being located just to the west of the Great Dividing Range it is hotter and less humid in summer and colder and drier in winter than nearby locations on the other side of the range. Dalby has had a recording weather station since 1893, but that was replaced in 1992 by another station at the Dalby Airport. The town's highest recorded temperature was 45.6 °C (114.1 °F) on 4 December 1913, while the coldest was -7.2 °C (19.0 °F) on 5 July 1895. The annual rainfall is 681.2 mm (26.8 in), the majority of which falls as thunderstorms in the summer months.

Dalby experienced its worst floods since 1981 in late December 2010. The town's water purification system was flooded, resulting in water restrictions that have hampered clean-up efforts. 112,500 litres (24,700 imp gal; 29,700 US gal) of water were transported to the town of 14,000 residents. In early March 2013, Dalby received another severe flood, cutting the town in two after 122 mm (4.8 in) of rain was recorded over a few days. Flood waters peaked at 3.21 meters and a number of homes received water damage.