Clermont, Queensland
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Clermont Queensland |
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Memorial marking the 1916 flood
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 Clermont
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| Coordinates | 22°49′0″S 147°38′0″E / 22.81667°S 147.63333°ECoordinates: 22°49′0″S 147°38′0″E / 22.81667°S 147.63333°E | ||||||||||||
| Population | 2,177 (2011 census) | ||||||||||||
| Established | 1864 | ||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 4721 | ||||||||||||
| Elevation | 267.0 m (876 ft) | ||||||||||||
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| LGA(s) | Isaac | ||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Gregory | ||||||||||||
| Federal Division(s) | Capricornia | ||||||||||||
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Clermont is an agricultural town and locality in the Isaac Region, Queensland, Australia. It is 274 kilometres (170 mi) south-west of Mackay on the junction of the Gregory and Peak Downs highways. At the 2011 census, Clermont had a population of 2,177.
Today, Clermont is a major hub for the large coal mines in the region as well as serving agricultural holdings.
Ludwig Leichhardt was the first European to pass through the Clermont area in 1845, but it was the discovery of gold in 1861 that was responsible for the establishment of the town. The town reserve was proclaimed on 25 March 1864, although a gold field was declared in the area in 1862. Clermont is named after Clermont-Ferrand in France; Clermont-Ferrand was the ancestral home of Oscar de Satge, one of the first European grazier who owned the Wolfang Downs pastoral run.
Theresa Creek Post Office opened by 1863, was replaced by Coppermines Post Office at the end of 1863 and Clermont Post Office in 1864.
Clermont State School opened on 27 August 1867.
Copper was discovered soon after. In the 1880s up to 4000 Chinese people were resident in Clermont, mining for gold and copper. This led to racial riots and the Chinese were removed from the region in 1888. The decorated soldier Billy Sing was born in Claremont in 1886 of a Chinese father and English mother.
The railway was extended north from Emerald to Clermont in February 1884. However, no passenger trains are available to or from Clermont.
The town was originally established on low-lying ground next to a lagoon or billabong, but flooding was always a problem, with four substantial floods occurring between 1864 and 1896. The greatest flood, in 1916, killed 65 people out of a town population of 1,500 and remains one of Australia's worst natural disasters in terms of life lost. Following the 1916 flood, many of the wooden buildings of the town were moved using steam traction engines to a new townsite on higher ground. A local amateur photographer, George Pullar took numerous photographs of the moving buildings, published in the 1980s as "A Shifting Town".
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Wikipedia