Childers

Childers is a rural town and locality in the Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia.

Childers is a rural town and locality in the Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census the locality of Childers had a population of 1,584 people.

The Childers area was traditionally inhabited by the Dundaburra group who are part ofKabi Kabi nations in the northernmost area of the Wide Bay Burnett. Their descendants still live in the region.Europeans first arrived in the area in the 1850s. Pastoralists established properties soon after to raise cattle on the fertile lands. Back then, sugar was (as it is now) the key crop grown in the Isis.The town was established in 1885. The Isis railway line to Childers opened in 1887 and was pivotal in the early development of the area. Childers Post Office opened on 14 November 1887. The town is reportedly named after Hugh Childers, British statesman, who was the Auditor-General of Victoria in the 1850s.Circa 1888-1889 an Anglican church was erected in Childers. The present Christ Church Anglican was opened and dedicated on 9 May 1901.The Childers Uniting Church was originally constructed as the Methodist Church in Horton in 1886. Due to the decline of the Horton township the church was subsequently moved to Childers. It became the Childers Uniting Church in June 1977 following the amalgamation of the Methodist Church into the Uniting Church in Australia in 1977.Childers Provisional School opened on 28 January 1889. In 1891 it became Childers State School. A secondary department was added in January 1913 and operated until Isis District State High School was established in 1961. A pre-school was added in 1976.Isis Central Mill Provisional School opened on 23 January 1899. On 1 January 1909 it became Isis Central Mill State School. It closed on 11 December 1987.A 1902 fire destroyed much of the town centre.St Joseph's Catholic School was established on 24 January 1926 by the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart.On 28 September 1941 Archibishop James Duhig laid the foundation stone for the Sacred Heart Catholic Church.The foundation stone of Grace Lutheran Church was laid by Pastor K Scholz on 16 April 1961.The town made international headlines in June 2000, when an arsonist set fire to the Palace Backpackers Hostel, claiming the lives of 15 tourists. The Palace Building reopened in 2002, and includes a memorial to those lost in the blaze, a Regional Art Gallery and an Information Centre.The Childers Library opened in 2000 with a major refurbishment in 2014.In the 2016 census the locality of Childers had a population of 1,584 people.

Noakes Lookout is off Rankin Road (25.2211°S 152.2845°E? / -25.2211; 152.2845? (Noakes Lookout)). At 128 metres (420 ft) above sea level, it is one of the highest points in the area, providing 360 degree panoramic views. However, as at 2013, regrowth of bushland surrounding the lookout has obscured the views and, as the lookout is on private land, there is no guaranteed right of access to the public.