| Mount Mulligan Queensland | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Chimney at Mount Mulligan (June 2006) | |||||||||||||||
  Mount Mulligan | |||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 16°51′21″S144°52′25″E / 16.8558°S 144.8736°E /-16.8558; 144.8736 (Mount Mulligan (historic town centre)) | ||||||||||||||
| Population | 0 (2021 census)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| • Density | 0.0000/km2 (0.0000/sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Established | 1910 | ||||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 4871 | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 1,516.0 km2 (585.3 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Time zone | AEST (UTC+10:00) | ||||||||||||||
| Location | |||||||||||||||
| LGA(s) | Tablelands Region | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Cook | ||||||||||||||
| Federal division(s) | Leichhardt | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Mount Mulligan is a former mining town and now a rurallocality in theShire of Mareeba,Queensland, Australia.[2][3] In the2021 census, the locality of Mount Mulligan had "no people or a very low population".[1]
It is the site of theMount Mulligan mine disaster, Queensland's worst mining disaster.
Although still officially gazetted, Mount Mulligan is now aghost town, with a single cemetery, a single occupied residence, a single chimney stack, and the overgrown remains of the once busy mining operations and electricity generator.[4]
Nearby towns areJulatten,Dimbulah,Mount Carbine andMount Molloy.
The conglomerate and sandstone mountain range is known to localDjungan people asNgarrabullgan. The Djungan people began living on the mountain about 40,000 years ago but ceased to camp on the range about 600 years ago.[5][6] The range was named Mount Mulligan after prospectorJames Venture Mulligan by his colleagues in their 1874 exploration expedition searching the Hodgkinson River for gold. The name Mount Mulligan was later given to the town that grew in the shadows of the range's escarpment.[2]
The town's coal was mined from shafts dug into aPermian layer within the cliff face or escarpment of a large 18 kilometres (11 mi) x 6.5 kilometres (4.0 mi) free-standing conglomerate and sandstone massif (rising up to 400 metres above the township). It was acoal mining town from 1910 until 19 September 1921 when an undergroundexplosion killed 75 miners (all the miners in the town). The mine closed, but reopened in 1923 and continued in production until 1957 when a hydro-electric scheme eliminated the need for the coal.[4]
Mount Mulligan Post Office opened by July 1914 (areceiving office had been open from 1907) and closed in 1959. A Mount Mulligan Rail Post Office was open between 1916 and 1920.[7]
TheChillagoe railway connected Mount Mulligan withDimbulah. It opened on 7 April 1915 and was officially closed in January 1958.[8]
In the2006 census, the locality of Mount Mulligan and the surrounding area had a population of 55 people.[9]
In the2016 census, the locality of Mount Mulligan had "no people or a very low population".[10]
In the2021 census, the locality of Mount Mulligan had "no people or a very low population".[1]
There are no schools in Mount Mulligan. The nearest primary and secondary school (P-10) school is Dimbulah State School inDimbulah to the south, but it would be too distant from many parts of Mount Mulligan. There is no secondary school to Year 12 nearby.Distance education and boarding school are options.[11]
Media related toMount Mulligan, Queensland at Wikimedia Commons
