The City of Thuringowa () was a city and local government area in North Queensland, Australia covering the northern and western parts of what is now Townsville. The suburb of Thuringowa Central is the main business centre in this area.

Thuringowa was named after the German state of Thuringia where the shire's first chairman, John von Stieglitz, originated. Prior to its proclamation as a city on 1 January 1986, Thuringowa was a large rural shire, almost surrounding the City of Townsville.

In 2007 the Queensland Government recommended that the Thuringowa City Council and the Townsville City Council be merged as part of the review of councils and boundaries, with the merged entity to be referred to as the Townsville City Council and the city being called the New Townsville City. The transition was completed with the election of a new combined Council on 15 March 2008.

History

thumb|Map of Thuringowa Division and adjacent local government areas, March 1902

Early history

Prior to European settlement, the Nyawaygi Aboriginal people lived in the area around Thuringowa, Townsville and the Burdekin. The earliest European on record to live in Thuringowa was James Morrill whose boat washed ashore in 1846.

On 16 January 1888, the Ayr Division was created out of Subdivision 3 of the Thuringowa Division in 1888 under the Divisional Boards Act 1887.

Considerable progress ensued over the following decades – by 1902, Thuringowa had 1,020 dwellings listed on its ratebooks. The period up to 1918 was one of consolidation and minor works, rather than major projects.

In 2007, the state government engaged in a programme of local government reform centred on amalgamating LGAs across Queensland. The Local Government Advisory Committee recommended that the Cities of Thuringowa and Townsville should be amalgamated into a new City of Townsville. Though it was the source of some controversy, the merger ultimately took place, with the City of Thuringowa ceasing to exist in March 2008. Les Tyrell, Thuringowa's mayor of 17 years, won against Townsville's mayor, 19-year incumbent Tony Mooney, in the mayoral election for the combined city.

Demographics

Thuringowa grew in population rapidly from the 1980s becoming one of the fastest-growing cities in Australia. The population had increased from 26,000 in 1986 to over 65,000 in 2007.

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! year

! census<br />population

! % growth<br />per annum

|-

| 1936

| 1,500

|

|-

| 1954

| 2,627

|

|-

| 1961

| 2,572

|

|-

| 1966

| 2,863

| 2.17

|-

| 1971

| 3,432

| 3.69

|-

| 1976

| 10,914

| 26.03

|-

| 1981

| 17,728

| 10.19

|-

| 1986

| 30,104

| 11.17

|-

| 1991

| 37,722

| 4.62

|-

| 1996

| 44,319

| 3.27

|-

| 2001

| 52,715

| 2.90

|-

| 2006

| 62,935

| 2.96

|-

| 2007

| 65,782

| 4.5

|}

More:

Suburbs

The City of Thuringowa included the following settlements:

; Urban

  • Alice River
  • Bluewater (beach)
  • Bohle
  • Bohle Plains
  • Bushland Beach (beach)
  • Condon
  • Deeragun
  • Kelso
  • Kirwan
  • Pinnacles
  • Rasmussen
  • Thuringowa Central

; Rural

  • Balgal Beach (beach)
  • Black River
  • Bluewater Park
  • Burdell (beach)
  • Jensen
  • Mount Low (beach)
  • Mutarnee
  • Paluma
  • Rollingstone
  • Saunders Beach (beach)
  • Shaw
  • Toolakea (beach)
  • Toomulla (beach)
  • Yabulu (beach)

Municipal leaders

The following is a list of chairmen and mayors of the Thuringowa Division, Shire of Thuringowa and City of Thuringowa from 1880 until 2008:

{|

|-

|

{| class=wikitable

!Year

!Name

|-

| 1880–1882 ||William Aplin

|-

| 1882–1883 ||Frederick Gordon

|-

| 1883–1884 ||James Miller and Arthur Glennie Bundock

|-

| 1884–1885 ||William Clayton and Arthur Glennie Bundock

|-

| 1885–1888 ||Arthur Glennie Bundock

|-

| 1888–1890 ||Frederick Johnson

|-

| 1890–1891 ||Joseph Hodel

|-

| 1891–1892 ||Joseph Hodel and Frederick Johnson

|-

| 1892–1898 ||Joseph Hodel

|-

| 1898–1900 ||Robert Mawby

|-

| 1900–1901 ||Frederick Johnson

|-

| 1901–1910 ||Joseph Hodel

|-

| 1910–1912 ||Henry Abbot

|-

| 1912–1914 ||Joseph Hodel

|-

|}

|

{| class=wikitable

!Year

!Name

|-

| 1914–1915 ||Edward Crowder or Joseph Hodel

|-

| 1915–1916 ||Joseph Hodel

|-

| 1916–1917 ||Edward Crowder

|-

| 1917–1920 ||William Ireland

|-

| 1920–1929 ||James Cummins

|-

| 1930–1948 ||Charles Wallace Wordsworth

|-

| March–May 1949 ||James Kelso

|-

| 1949–1960 ||William Howard Favell Wordsworth

|-

| 1961–1966 ||John Richard Brabon

|-

| 1967–1969 ||William DeCourcey

|-

| 1970–1973 ||John Richard Brabon

|-

| 1973–1976 ||William DeCourcey

|-

| 1976–1991 ||Dan Gleeson (Mayor 1986–91)

|-

| 1991–2008 ||Les Tyrell

|-

|}

|}

References

Further reading

  • Former Thuringowa City Council
  • More history of Thuringowa, including searchable historical image collection – from Thuringowa Library Heritage Services