Richmond is situated on the southern banks of the state’s longest river, the Flinders, approximately 522km due west of Townsville in the centre of Queensland’s North West.
The town of Richmond stands 216 metres above sea level on the border of rolling downs country. South of Richmond the open downs stretch away east, south and west covered by a thick body of Mitchell and Flinders grass. North of the Flinders River is a narrow belt of the same fertile country broken by belts of timber and limestone ridges. Further northeast,the black boulders of the basalt wall are visible and north-west the forest country stretches away to the Gulf.
The Shire of Wyangarie (meaning Aboriginal “Hut”) came into effect on 1 January 1916 and this was changed to Richmond Shire Council on 31 July 1954.
Richmond residents have been described as a friendly bunch of people with community pride and spirit as demonstrated by the higher than Queensland average for volunteers (of 34.6%) volunteering their time and services to the community.
Thanks to Richmond Shire Council, who granted permission for this information to be taken from their Community Plan
Climate
Richmond has a dry tropical climate. The majority of rain falls from late December to March, during the wet season. The area experiences a long, mild and generally sunny winter from April to September, before a hot build up in late October, through to when the rain starts in December.
Statistics
The following statistics can be found on the Australian Bureau of Statistics website, and are from the 2011 Census.
Population: 827
Average Age: 37
Number of families living in Richmond: 217
Families made up of couples with children: 42.3%
34.6% of people aged 15 years or over completed unpaid voluntary work for a local organisation. This compares to the Queensland average of 18.7%.
Smoothed unemployment rate, March quarter, 2012 was 4.8%, which compares to a Queensland average of 5.5%. (Office of Economic and Statistical Research)
History - Interactive Timeline - 1861 to Current
Click highlighted events to read more information.
Back in 1861...
1864
1872
1880
- Gold was first discovered at the Woolgar.
1881
- Original Richmond Stores than known as Goldring & Tolano was built.
1882
- The first Police Station was built
1888
- The first butcher was established by E Winkworth
- The first Blacksmith was J Yule & Joseph McEwan
1889
- The Richmond State School was opened
1890
- The Carrar & Talmoi Wool Scours were established
1898
- The original Hospital was built
1900
- The first bore was drilled
1902
- The Cordial Factory was built
1903
- Photographer – Edward Spike
- Chemist – Oscar Baneke
- Federal Place Hotel was built
1904
- The Richmond Record Newspaper was established
- The railway reached Richmond
1905
- Draper – E Mellick
1908
- Site of Maxwellton Township was chosen
1915
- St Joseph’s Convent School was opened.
1920
- The first plane, Gipsy Moth landed in Richmond.
1948
- Airport was opened where it stands today
1952
- The Lights of Richmond were first switched on.
1956
- Richmond's War Memorial Swimming Pool was built.
1964
- The High School opened.
1985
- The first Richmond Field Day started.
2002
- Lake Fred Tritton was constructed.