Bowen

Geography

Bowen is located on the north-east coast in North Queensland, at exactly twenty degrees south of the equator. Bowen is halfway between Townsville and Mackay, and 1,130 kilometres (700 mi) by road from Brisbane.

Bowen sits on a square peninsula, with the Coral Sea to the north, east, and south. To the south-east is Port Denison and Edgecumbe Bay. On the western side, where the peninsula connects with the mainland, the Don River's alluvial plain provides fertile soil that supports a prosperous farming industry.

Merinda is a hinterland town 10.3 kilometres (6.4 mi) west of the town of Bowen.

The Bruce Highway enters the locality from the east, approaches but does not enter the town of Bowen itself, but then turns west to pass through Merinda before exiting the locality to the north-west. The North Coast railway line follows a similar route, approaching the district from the south and served by the Bowen railway station located to the west of the town. After exiting the station, the line turns northwest over the Don river to its next major stop at Home Hill. At Merinda railway station, there is the junction with the Collinsville-Newlands railway line servicing the Bowen basin Coalfields. The Collinsville-Newlands line extends to the coal-handling port at Abbot Point, also within the locality of Bowen. The railway station servicing the port is the Abbot Point railway station.

Heronvale is a small coastal town 21.6 kilometres (13.4 mi) by road south of the town of Bowen, accessed via the Bruce Highway and then Heronvale Road.

In the west of the locality is the Mount Aberdeen National Park.

Two of Bowen's main streets are named after officers of the British colonial paramilitary Native Police force. Powell Street is named after Lieutenant Walter David Taylor Powell and Williams Street is named after Lieutenant Ewan G. Williams.

History

Biri (also known as Birri) is a language of Central and North Queensland. Biri refers to a language chain extending from Central Queensland towards Townsville and is often used as a universal name for other languages and/or dialects across the region. The language area includes the towns of Bowen, Ayr, Collinsville and Nebo.

Yuru (also known as Juru, Euronbba, Juru, Mal Mal, Malmal) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken on Yuru country. The Yuru language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Shire of Burdekin, including the town of Home Hill.

Captain James Cook named Cape Gloucester on his voyage of exploration up the Australian coast in 1770. This "cape" turned out to be an island, and Gloucester Island dominates the view from Bowen's eastern beaches. Behind the island is a bay that forms an excellent port, which the town came to be built around.

Shipwreck survivor, James Morrill, resided briefly in the area around the year 1850 with the local Aboriginal clan during his seventeen years living as a castaway.

In 1859 Captain Henry Daniel Sinclair led an expedition to the area in response to a reward offered by the colony of New South Wales for finding a port somewhere north of Rockhampton. They came across a "most splendid harbour" which Sinclair named Port Denison after the colonial governor of New South Wales, William Denison. On the shore they found "several acres of ground resembling a garden...full of a vegetable resembling nuts" which the local Aboriginal people had constructed.

On 11 September 1860, George Elphinstone Dalrymple on his naval excursion in the schooner Spitfire to search for the mouth of the Burdekin River, landed in Port Denison. He named and climbed Mount Gordon to survey the region and observed that a river (later named the Don River) traversed a valley just behind Port Denison and into the sea. This river was "lined with camps and bush fires of the natives" indicating "the locality to be very thickly inhabited". The Spitfire continued its exploration north to Magnetic Island, but the surveyors came to the conclusion that the northeastern shore of Port Denison was the most suitable site in the region for settlement especially as the large native wells present in a creek bed there could be utilised as a water supply. On 5 October, Dalrymple again came ashore to appropriate control of these wells. He wrote that:

Demographics

In the 2016 census, the locality of Bowen had a population of 10,377 people. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 9.2% of the population. 74.2% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were New Zealand 2.4%, England 2.0%, South Korea 1.3%, Philippines 1.1% and Taiwan 1.0%. 81.5% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 1.5% and Korean 1.2%, The most common responses for religion were No Religion 25.8%, Catholic 20.5% and Anglican 17.6%.

In the 2021 census, the locality of Bowen had a population of 11,205 people.

Heritage listings

Bowen has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

Flemington Road Cemetery, Flemington Road

Bowen Harbour Board Building, 6 Herbert Street

Bowen Post Office, 46 Herbert Street

Bowen State School, 29 Kennedy Street

Bowen Courthouse, 30 Williams Street

Economy

The town has a diversified economy primarily based on agriculture, fishing, tourism, and mining. Its dry climate plus its fertile alluvial soil, makes it an ideal place to grow a wide variety of small crops, including tomatoes, rockmelons (i.e., cantaloupes), and capsicums (i.e., bell peppers). Outside the alluvial plain, much of the Bowen area is used for beef cattle.. The Merinda meatworks (Bowen) was a source of employment and economic growth of the town for many years.

Just north of Bowen is the Abbot Point coal loading port. Coal mined inland of Bowen in Collinsville and other towns in the Bowen Basin is brought by rail to a deepwater pier to be loaded on bulk carriers. Coal is exported mainly to China and India.

Education

Bowen State School is a government primary (Early Childhood to Year 6) school for boys and girls at 29 Kennedy Street (20.0101°S 148.2438°E / -20.0101; 148.2438 (Bowen State School)). In 2015, it had an enrolment of 480 students with 34 teachers (30 full-time equivalent). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 448 students with 31 teachers (30 full-time equivalent) and 22 non-teaching staff (15 full-time equivalent). It includes a special education program.

Queens Beach State School is a government primary (Prep–6) school for boys and girls at 39 Tracey Street (19.9761°S 148.2271°E / -19.9761; 148.2271 (Queens Beach State School)). In 2014 (when it was a P–7 school), it had an enrolment of 452 students with 32 teachers (30 full-time equivalent). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 426 students with 35 teachers (31 full-time equivalent) and 22 non-teaching staff (13 full-time equivalent).

Merinda State School is a government primary (Prep–6) school for boys and girls at Bergl Street (20.0201°S 148.1636°E / -20.0201; 148.1636 (Merinda State School)). In 2015, it had an enrolment of 87 students with 7 teachers (5 full-time equivalent). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 55 students with 4 teachers and 6 non-teaching staff (3 full-time equivalent).

St Mary's Catholic School is a Catholic primary (Prep–6) school for boys and girls at 39 Poole Street (20.0115°S 148.2421°E / -20.0115; 148.2421 (St Mary's Catholic School)). In 2015, it had an enrolment of 83 students. In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 71 students with 11 teachers (5 full-time equivalent) and 9 non-teaching staff (5 full-time equivalent).

Bowen State High School is a government secondary (7–12) school for boys and girls at 1–9 Argyle Park Road (19.9991°S 148.2355°E / -19.9991; 148.2355 (Bowen State High School)). In 2015, it had an enrolment of 657 students with 58 teachers (56 full-time equivalent). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 622 students with 58 teachers (56 full-time equivalent) and 37 non-teaching staff (28 full-time equivalent). It includes a special education program.

TAFE Queensland North is a government co-educational tertiary institute for vocational skills. Its Bowen campus is at 98–158 Queens Road. Before 2013, the Bowen campus was part of the Barrier Reef Institute of TAFE.

Amenities

Whitsunday Regional Council operates Bowen Public Library at 67 Herbert Street. The library opened in 1965 with refurbishments in 1978 and 2012.

Major airlines service Proserpine (Whitsunday Coast) airport located south of Bowen, this is the nearest major airport to the town.

The Bowen branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association meets at the QCWA Hall at 52 Herbert Street (20.0114°S 148.2463°E / -20.0114; 148.2463 (Bowen CWA Hall)).

St Mary's Catholic Church is in Sinclair Street between Poole Street and Gordon Street (20.0125°S 148.2416°E / -20.0125; 148.2416 (St Mary's Catholic Church)). It is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Townsville.

Bowen Uniting Church is at 37 Kennedy Street (20.0105°S 148.2416°E / -20.0105; 148.2416 (Bower Uniting Church)), which was formerly the hall of the St James' Presbyterian Church. It provides services in English, Korean and Tongan languages.

Attractions

Bowen is on a peninsula, with ocean on three sides. This gives eight beaches surrounding the town, namely Kings Beach, Queens Beach, Horseshoe Bay, Murrays Bay, Greys Bay, Rose Bay, and the Front Beach. There is also the clothing-optional Coral Bay. Kings Beach offers views of nearby Gloucester Island.The "Big Mango", costing $90,000 to create, was erected in 2002 as a tourist attraction at the Bowen Tourist Information Centre. In February 2014, the 10-metre high, seven-tonne fibreglass structure was reported to be "stolen" as part of a publicity stunt for the region.

Sport

The most popular sport in Bowen is rugby league. The town's local team, the Bowen Seagulls, play in the Townsville District Rugby League competition.

The Bowen Showground, off Mount Nutt Road includes a motorcycle speedway and sidecars track within the site. The track (19°59′38″S 148°13′46″E) first held racing on 27 September 1927 and hosted the Queensland Solo Championship in 2020 and 2022.

Climate

Bowen has a tropical savannah climate (Köppen: Aw), with a sweltering wet season from December to April and a cooler, less humid dry season from May to November. Warm to hot weather predominates, with average maxima ranging from 31.5 °C (88.7 °F) in January to 24.5 °C (76.1 °F) in July. A partial rain shadow is produced by the nearby Gloucester Island, resulting in the annual precipitation averaging 894.9 millimetres (35.23 in). Extreme temperatures have ranged from 39.7 °C (103.5 °F) on 1 January 1985 to 3.2 °C (37.8 °F) on 12 August 2012.

Television

Bowen is serviced by free to air channels including the ABC, SBS, Seven Queensland (STQ), WIN Television (Nine Network affiliate), Southern Cross Television (Ten Network affiliate).

In popular culture

In December 2006, it was announced that Bowen was chosen as a filming location for part of the production of Australia, directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. Bowen was chosen as a prospect due to the financing of $500,000 by the Queensland Government. The production moved to Bowen on 14 May 2007; the town was used to depict 1940's Darwin.

The Big Mango in Bowen is one of the better known of Australia's big things.

Notable residents

Sir Charles Newton Barton (1907–1987), commissioner of main roads and co-ordinator-general of public works.

Edith Bethel (1871–1929), political organiser.

Douglas James (Jim) Darwen (1906–1988), newspaper-owner and editor.

Korah Halcomb Wills (1828–1896), mayor of Bowen

Sister cities

Oseto-cho, Japan