Warra

Warra is a rural town and locality in the Western Downs Region, Queensland, Australia.

Warra is a rural town and locality in the Western Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census the locality of Warra had a population of 205 people.

The town takes its name from the Warra Warra pastoral run, which was previously called Cobble Cobble. The run wasoperated by Henry Dennis in the late 1840s, then by Colin McKenzie from 1848, then by Mr Thorne circa 1864. The name Warra Warra is believed to be from the Mandandanji language meaning a woman carrying a loador plenty of water.Warra Provisional School opened on 12 April 1881. On 21 January 1889 it became Warra State School. In 1977 a pre-school was added.On Friday 9 November 1906 Archdeacon Edward Bush Trotter, assisted by the Reverend William Powning Glover of Dalby, laid the foundation stone for All Saints' Anglican Church. On Tuesday 26 March 1907 Archbishop St Clair Donaldson officially opened and dedicated the church.

In April 1907 Samuel Alexander Taylor of Logie Plains pastoral station decided to build a Presbyterian church in Warra at his own expense.It is unclear when the Presbyterian Church opened but it was in operation by May 1908. In the 1970s, when the Uniting Church in Australia was created through amalgamation of Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregational churches, it became Warra Uniting Church. In 2005 the church at 14 Lytton Street (26.9311°S 150.9187°E? / -26.9311; 150.9187? (Warra Presbyterian/Uniting Church)) was sold into private ownership and then converted into a residence.Daiwan State School opened on 18 October 1910. In 1924 it was renamed Haystack State School. It closed in 1968.On Sunday 30 March 1913 Archbishop James Duhig blessed and officially opened St Francis Xavier Catholic Church. The church was destroyed in a storm on 15 December 1980.Ehlma State School opened on 14 April 1913. It closed in 1965.

Braeside State School opened on 24 May 1915 and closed on 31 October 1923. On 31 January 1928 it reopened and closed permanently on 4 August 1950.Between December 1915 and July 1919 the Queensland Labor Government operated a coal mine at Warra, one of several such State Enterprises. The mine supplied coal for the southern railways, and by 1915 was producing 120 tons weekly which could be loaded directly into engines at the pithead. The mine however was plagued from the start with water seepage problems, causing the original shaft to be abandoned after November 1916. The mine yielded a total 13,528 tons of coal, and the net financial result was a loss of £38,058.The Warra Honour Board was unveiled on 14 May 1917 by Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly in Dalby,William Vowles.Llanberris Provisional School opened on 17 November 1919 and closed on 27 April 1923.At the 2006 census, Warra had a population of 84.In the 2016 census the locality of Warra had a population of 205 people.

A bell tower with the original bell and cross from St Francis Xavier Catholic Church stands on the site of the church just west of the town on the Warrego Highway (26.9272°S 150.9168°E? / -26.9272; 150.9168? (St Francis Xavier Catholic Church (former))). A plaque commemorates the church.