Toowoomba

Toowoomba is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia.

Toowoomba is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is 125 km (78 mi) west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The estimated urban population of Toowoomba as of June 2018 was 136,861, having grown at an average annual rate of 1.02% year-on-year over the preceding five years. Toowoomba is the second most populous inland city in the country after the national capital of Canberra and hence the largest town on the Darling Downs. It is also referred to as the capital of the Darling Downs.

The Toowoomba region is the home of two main Aboriginal language groups, the Giabal whose lands extend south of the city and Jarowair whose lands extend north of the city.

The Jarowair lands include the site of one of Australia's most important sacred Bora ceremonial ground, the ‘Gummingurru stone arrangement’ dated to c.4000 BC. The site marked one of the major routes employed by many Aboriginal tribes to the south and southeast to participate in the triennial bunya nut feast. The feast was Australia's largest Indigenous event, and of cultural and spiritual significance.

The region's recorded history began when the English botanist Allan Cunningham explored the region in 1827, naming it after Ralph Darling, then Governor of New South Wales. British drays began arriving from 1840, enticed by the rich pastoral lands and established Drayton in 1842. During the War of Southern Queensland, the region experienced bloodshed as Indigenous tribes attempted to force drays from encroaching into the Darling Downs, with the Battle of One Tree Hill being fought near to Toowoomba.

William Horton founded the Royal Bull's Head Inn in 1847, and in 1852 invested in a new hotel in the area known as ‘The Swamp’, a rivalry between the two settlements had developed in which ‘The Swamp’, later renamed to Toowoomba, outgrew and absorbed Drayton. The town elected its first mayor in 1861, former convict William Henry Groom, and by 1867 was connected by rail which was the first over the Great Dividing Range. In 1904 Toowoomba was declared a city, and saw the Austral Society founded there by the esteemed national poet George Essex Evans. Over the 20th century, Toowoomba expanded from primarily agriculture, to services including advanced education and medical.

A university and cathedral city, Toowoomba is largely preserved of its Victorian era architecture and gardens of which there are more than 150 public parks including the historic Queens Park.The city hosts the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers each September and national championship events for the sports of mountain biking and motocross. Toowoomba is served by Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport and the smaller Toowoomba City Aerodrome.

Giabal and Jarowair are recognised as the two main Aboriginal language groups of the Toowoombawith Giabal extending south of the city while Jarowair extends north of the city. The Jarowair language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Toowoomba Regional Council, particularly Toowoomba north to Crows Nest and west to Oakey.This traditional landscape changed dramatically with the settlement of Drayton in the 1840s and the pastoral expansion west. Those Aboriginal Australians that survived the frontier conflict of this time were pushed to the fringe of society in camps and later moved to missions such as Deebing Creek, Durundur and later Barambah. There is evidence that local Aboriginal Australians were working on the properties to the west of Toowoomba in this contact period. Ceremonies such as the Bonye Bonye festival remained active until the late 19th century – groups from south east and south west Queensland as well as northern New South Wales gathered at Gummingurru, near Gowrie prior to attending the festival. The Gummingurru site is being restored and remains an important ceremonial place for not only the traditional groups but neighbouring groups.

Toowoomba's colonial history traces back to 1816 when English botanist and explorer Allan Cunningham arrived in Australia from Brazil and in June 1827 discovered 4 million acres (16,000 km2) of rich farming and grazing land, which became known as the Darling Downs, bordered on the east by the Great Dividing Range and 160 kilometres (100 mi) west of the settlement of Moreton Bay. Thirteen years later when George and Patrick Leslie established Toolburra Station 56 miles (90 km) south-west of Toowoomba the first settlers arrived on the Downs and established a township of bark-slab shops called The Springs which was soon renamed Drayton. Land for the town was first surveyed in 1849, then again in 1853.Towards the end of the 1840s Drayton had grown to the point where it had its own newspaper, general store, trading post and the Royal Bull's Head Inn, which was built by William Horton and still stands today. Horton is regarded as the true founder of Toowoomba despite not being the first European person to live there. Drovers and wagon masters spread the news of the new settlement at Toowoomba. By 1858 Toowoomba was growing fast. It had a population of 700, three hotels and many stores. Land selling at £4 per acre (£10 per hectare) in 1850 was by then £150 per acre (£370 per hectare). Governor Bowen granted the wish of locals and a new municipality was proclaimed on 24 November 1860.The first town council election took place on 4 January 1861 and William Henry Groom won. The railway from Ipswich was opened in 1867, bringing with it business development. In 1892, the Under Secretary of Public Land proclaimed Toowoomba and the surrounding areas as a township and in 1904 Toowoomba was declared a city. Pastoralism replaced agriculture and dairying by the 1900s.In July 1902, 80 subdivided allotments of "The Lilley Estate" owned by the late Sir Charles Lilley, were advertised to be auctioned by Scholefield & Godsall. A map advertising the auction shows that the estate was bordered by Bridge, Mary and Lindsay Streets and overlooking and adjoining the Royal Agricultural Society's Showgrounds.The Rotary Club of Toowoomba was established in 1930.During World War II, Toowoomba was the location of RAAF No.7 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot, completed in 1942 and closed on 29 August 1944. Usually consisting of 4 tanks, 31 fuel depots were built across Australia for the storage and supply of aircraft fuel for the RAAF and the US Army Air Forces at a total cost of £900,000 ($1,800,000).Toowoomba was named as Australia's Tidiest Town in 2008.On 10 January 2011, Toowoomba suffered a catastrophic flash flood. Unusually heavy rainfall had occurred in the preceding days, causing the city's waterways to become swollen. Around midday, an intense storm moved in from the northeast, completely overwhelming East Creek and West Creek which run through the CBD. 149.6 mm (5.89 in) fell in one day

with rainfall peaking at 144 mm/h (5.7 in/h) over one 10-minute interval. The flood caused damage to properties and infrastructure, and resulted in the deaths of 2 people in Toowoomba.

Toowoomba has a warm Humid subtropical climate. Compared to other parts of Queensland, Toowoomba experiences more frequent high winds, hail, frost and fog and is considered cooler than many other towns and cities in Queensland. The city is rather sunny, receiving 107.2 clear days annually.

Daily maximum temperatures in Toowoomba average 28 °C (82 °F) in summer and 17 °C (63 °F) in winter. Unlike most of inland Queensland, summer temperatures above 35 °C (95 °F) are uncommon, whilst winter days rarely warm above 20 °C (68 °F). Winter nights seldom drop below freezing; however, in a situation unique among Queensland cities, snow has been reported on the higher parts of the city on several occasions. Light frost will be experienced several nights each winter in the city centre, more often in the western suburbs.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology, the highest temperature ever recorded in Toowoomba was 40.8 °C (105.4 °F) on 12 February 2017, while the lowest was -4.4 °C (24.1 °F) on 12 July 1965.Average annual rainfall, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, is 724 mm (28.5 in), which peaks in the warm season. Rainfall in the eastern suburbs along the Great Dividing Range nudges 1,000 mm (39 in) per year. The majority of Toowoombas rain falls from November to March, with January and February being the peak rainy months. Like most of south-east Queensland, severe thunderstorms can be a threat and Toowoomba may occasionally be affected by ex-tropical cyclones.