Thangool

Thangool is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Banana, Queensland, Australia.

Thangoolis a rural town and locality in the Shire of Banana, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census the locality of Thangool had a population of 741 people.

The Thangool area was originally home to the Kangulu Aboriginal people.European settlement in the area began with the Archer brothers who, on advice from the explorer Ludwig Leichhardt, set out from Eidsvold Station on the Burnett River to explore the area to the north in 1853, eventually reaching the Fitzroy River.Speculative ventures followed in the 1850s and 1860s, originally tentative attempts at sheep raising, but soon turning to cattle.

The town name Thangool comes from the Thangool railway station, which existed from 2 February 1924 until 1 August 1987. It is reportedly an Aboriginal word meaning possum.The neighbourhood Mount Scoria takes its name from the Mount Scoria railway station, assigned by the Queensland Railways Department in 21 June 1926, which is named after the mountain of the same name.The town was surveyed in 1925 and primitive shops constructed from corrugated iron and logs were established soon after.The Callide Valley railway line was extended to Thangool in 1925, before its final extension to Lawgi in 1931.Thangool State School opened on 5 April 1927.Mount Scoria State School opened on 3 November 1930 and closed in July 1958.Dawes State School opened on 20 June 1932 and closed in October 1932.Kroombit Provisional School opened on 17 May 1933 and closed on 13 April 1936.Yaparaba State School opened on 30 August 1934 and closed on 6 February 1970.Clinker Creek State School opened in July 1938 and closed on 23 February 1942.By the 1930s, a cotton boom had allowed the town to support two hotels, two butchers, two bakers, a picture theatre, a cordial factory, a blacksmith and a bank.The name Kariboe comes from the Kariboe railway station, assigned in 19 September 1940 by the Queensland Railways Department, which in turns derives its name from pastoral run name used in mid-1850s by pastoralist Charles Archer. It is the Aboriginal language name for the local creek.At the 2006 census the town of Thangool had a population of 339 while the locality had a population of 545.In the 2016 census the locality of Thangool had a population of 741 people.The Red Steer Hotel closed in April 2017, leaving the town without a hotel, so the Thangool Recreation Club obtained a limited liquor licence to provide a place for locals to gather for a drink.

Nearby Mount Scoria, a rare rock formation rising 150 metres (490 ft) above the surrounding plain, was an active volcano 20 to 26 million years ago. The mountain features impressive basalt columns formed by cooling lava.Despite its name the mountain features very little scoria, with most of the mountain made up of vesicular basalt.