Mangindai

Mangindai in Kamilaroi language means a wet well in a river . ^[1] The border runs along the center of the Baruon River and the center of the bridge, but so far there is not a single state border indicator on the bridge.

The nearest cities are Mori and St. George . The nearest villages are in New South Wales: Wimela , Gara , Ashley and Bumi ; in Queensland: Tallon , Dirranbandi and Hebel .

Mangindai is a center for a regional industry specializing in cotton , beef and wheat .

Uniquely located on both sides of the New South Wales-Queensland border, Mangindai is the only southern hemisphere city ​​to have the same name for both parts. The Carnarvon Highway is the shortest route from Sydney to Darwin .

A one-tonne pillar was erected by Mr. John Cameroon in 1881 to mark the completion of two long and difficult years of state border research. The pillar is located 5 km west of Mangindai, where the state border leaves the river and stretches 700 km west along the 29th parallel to the border with South Australia .

Many subjects are of interest at an exhibition in the Local History Park on the outskirts of the city.

The historic site of Nivorra , the former Nivorra wineries, is located about 11 km southeast of Mangindai on the Karnarvon highway.

By the middle of the 19th century, cattle grazed on both sides of the Baruon River , and the Mangindai ford, located above the current bridge with the stream, became its main crossing. The clear water springs and shaded ponds on the banks of the river turned out to be a great place for the drover camp in the area, which the indigenous people of Kamilaroi have used since ancient times as a place for important gatherings. Regular use of the route is indicated by the fact that two trade routes ( forty chains ) were laid to Mangindai - one from St. George and the other from Uyenba via Daril.

The movement of the drovers and the arrival of settlers attracted other people who provided goods and services first. The first known services were hotels. One of these hotels was built by Alexander Grant Walker in 1863 and was located on the south bank of the river. Alexander was definitely driven by an innovative spirit. At the age of 21, he arrived in New South Wales from Scotland , married in Merrerundi and moved with his wife to Mori , where they were among the first to buy land in an urban area. In Mori they built a hotel on From Street, but within the next twelve months they transferred the license to the Mangindai Inn, also known as Walkers Hotel, and in later years as Green Hut. Walker built himself a house, as well as stables for patrons of the hotel. These are buildings along the coast of Baruon, between the current buildings of North-Western Motors and Quinn's Motors , not far from the intersection, which at that time was the eastern boundary of Garden Island. Walker later bought a 40-acre (16 ha) piece of land along the river.

In 1859, Queensland became a separate colony and by 1862, mail service on pack horses was organized between Seret and Yarava under the control of the Queensland government. A few years later, a private postal service appeared between Yarava and Mori. Subsequently, the service route was extended to Mangindai. By 1865, the increased volume almost prompted the Queensland Post Minister to send an inspector to Mangindai, who then recommended Alexander Walker to the post of Head of Post Office.

About a year later, Walker began to experience the frustration inherent in border town officials. As the Head of the Mangindai Post Office in Queensland, he was not authorized to deal with letters bearing the stamp of New South Wales, as a result of which he offered himself to the post of Head of the Post Office of Mangindai in New South Wales, to which he was eventually appointed in 1867. The Mangindai Queensland Post Office Directory for the following year listed 43 subscribers. Only a few of them had families, which explained the need for a store that was then run by Walker.

In 1876, a branch of the State Savings Bank of New South Wales was opened in the city's post office. When work began on the construction of the first bridge across the Baruon River in the same year, Walker realized the benefits of finding his store near a new crossing. His new store, built in the same year, was not far from the place of the current old police station, and at that time, near the customs, which worked until in 1900 the federation stopped trade between the colonies / states.

Alexander Walker, who could safely be called the founder of Mangindai, suddenly died in 1878. His wife and children continued to manage the post office, shop, and hotel. Apparently then, Mrs. Walker was nicknamed the Queen of Mangindai . The first constable from New South Wales appeared in 1882.

In the 80s of the XIX century, mass movement in the area led to the creation of a regular stagecoach and communication service, later improved with the opening of the telegraph service in 1881. Many young people found work in the city, followed by their families. The territory of the Queensland part of the city was studied and divided into plots for sale. In the territory reserved for the cemetery (behind the current hospital), as far as is known, only two people were buried.

A study of land on the side of New South Wales was carried out on January 24, 1888, and then the first land plots of the urban part of Mangindai were sold at auction, at which their final price ranged from £ 11 to £ 46. The very first plots sold at the auction were plots between North Street, Kunopia Street, Wirra Street and Yarua Street. In 1890, according to changes in parliamentary laws, Mangindai was granted village status.

After this proclamation, Mangindai continued to develop rapidly. Despite the fact that the year 1890 brought a devastating flood that plunged many families responsible for the widespread distribution of prickly pear prickly pear, many new settlers bought another batch of land and more and more merchants and businessmen began to settle in the city.

In 1891, residents of the Queensland part of Mangindai filed a petition for a policeman. By 1894, just a year after the opening of the New South Wales School and granting it the status of a full-fledged public school with an average minimum attendance of 30 people, the Queensland Pre-School was opened, which trained 22 students. Over the next three years, the number of school-age children doubled.

At the turn of the century, the city had its own newspaper, a hospital, a doctor, an attorney, two schools, two post offices, a brewery, at least four hotels, two police departments, with three employees in each, two racing clubs, P. & A society . , two butchers, two hairdressers, two dressmakers and milliners, a shoemaker, a saddler, a baker, a cutter, a sawmill, a loan shark, a teacher of piano, violin and oil painting, about four contractor carpenter, a painter and decorator, a bricklayer and a tinsmith. Also, Mangindai residents, who at that time totaled about 250 people, participated in public entertainment. Balls and dances, fairs and exhibitions, concerts and touring circus tent, and once every two weeks a meeting of literary and discussion clubs. In Paradise, the athlete enthusiastically engaged in fishing, cycling, horse racing, cricket, billiards and tennis.

Mangindai is the northernmost point of the Mangindai (or Northwest) railway line and is located 798 kilometers from Sydney. ^[2] The line opened on December 7, 1914, and closed between Wimela and Mangindai on January 5, 1974, after service interruption due to flooding. ^[3] The former railway station is now private housing.