The Leap, Queensland
| The Leap Queensland | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  The Leap | |||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 21°03′50″S 149°01′22″E / 21.0638°S 149.0227°E | ||||||||||||||
| Population | 642 (2016 census)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| • Density | 11.588/km2 (30.01/sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 4740 | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 55.4 km2 (21.4 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Time zone | AEST (UTC+10:00) | ||||||||||||||
| Location |
| ||||||||||||||
| LGA(s) | Mackay Region | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Whitsunday | ||||||||||||||
| Federal Division(s) | Dawson | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
The Leap is a coastal rural locality in the Mackay Region, Queensland, Australia.[2] In the 2016 census The Leap had a population of 642 people.[1]
Geography[]
The locality is bounded to the north-west by Constant Creek and to the north by its mouth (21°00′00″S 149°01′00″E / 21.0000°S 149.0167°E) into the Coral Sea.[3] Sand Bay is offshore (20°57′00″S 149°03′13″E / 20.95000°S 149.0536°E).[4][5][6]
The Bruce Highway enters the locality from the south-east (Farleigh) and exits to the south-west (Hampden). The North Coast railway line follows a similar route to the north of the highway but there are no railway stations on that line serving the locality.[6] There is a network of cane tramways in the locality to transport the harvested sugarcane to the sugar mill for processing.[7]
The locality has a number of named peaks, including:
- Sugarloaf Peak (21°06′12″S 149°01′52″E / 21.1034°S 149.0310°E) 254 metres (833 ft)[8]
- The Leap (Mount Mandurana) (21°04′06″S 149°01′30″E / 21.0682°S 149.0251°E) 306 metres (1,004 ft)[8][9]
- The Sister (21°03′42″S 149°02′31″E / 21.0617°S 149.0420°E) 182 metres (597 ft)[8][10]
History[]
The area takes its English name from The Leap railway station which, in turn,, took its name from an historical event on top of a local mountain, Mount Mandarana.[2]
In April 1867 a local Aboriginal woman was among a large group of 200 Aboriginal men, women and children from the north side of the Pioneer River, being pursued by a Queensland Native Police Force, led by Sub-Inspector Robert Arthur Johnstone, in April 1867. The group was camping on Balnagowan pastoral lease (just to the south of The Leap), where cattle had been speared in February 1867. The woman and others in the group which had sought refuge in caves at the top of the mountain, were forced to jump off a cliff on Mount Mandarana of several hundred feet, rather than face the carbines of the Native Police Force.[11] The Aboriginal woman's child (she may have been 3 years old) survived the massacre and was baptised Johanna 'Judy' Hazeldene on 22 July 1867 and she married an English man named George Howes in 1887, by whom she had a boy (Bill) and a daughter (Esme or May).[12] Johanna Hazeldene died on 25 December 1897 and is buried in Mackay Cemetery.[13]
The Leap Provisional School opened on 13 March 1893. On 1 January 1909 it became The Leap State School. In 1919 Arthur Edward Hunter (of The Leap Hotel) donated 1.1786 hectares (2.912 acres) of land for the school.[14] The school closed on 8 August 1969.[15] As the land had been donated for school purposes, the usual practice was that the land was returned to the donor or their heirs. Two people made claims to be Hunter's relatives, the Queensland Government did not find the claims to be proven and decided in 1988 to sell the land and kept the proceeds.[14] The school was at 2105 Maraju Yakapari Road (21°04′12″S 149°00′30″E / 21.0700°S 149.00847°E).[16][17][6]
The North Coast railway line reached The Leap in 1924[citation needed] with the area being served by the following now-abandoned stations (from south to north):
- Wundaru railway station (21°05′13″S 149°03′35″E / 21.0869°S 149.0597°E)[7]
- Mapalo railway station (21°04′56″S 149°02′33″E / 21.0823°S 149.0426°E)[7]
- The Leap railway station (21°04′39″S 149°01′29″E / 21.0774°S 149.0247°E)[7]
- Yakapari railway station (21°04′08″S 149°00′10″E / 21.0690°S 149.0029°E)[7]
In the 2011 census, The Leap had a population of 673 people.[18]
In the 2016 census The Leap had a population of 642 people.[1]
Heritage listings[]
The Leap has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
- Bruce Highway (21°05′07″S 149°02′01″E / 21.0854°S 149.0335°E): The Leap Cane Lift[19]
Attractions[]
A sculpture of the murdered Aboriginal woman, clutching her swaddled child, stands outside the local hotel at The Leap.[20]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "The Leap (SSC)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "The Leap – locality in Mackay Region (entry 46844)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
- ^ "Constant Creek – watercourse in the Mackay Region (entry 7980)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
- ^ "Bays - Queensland". Queensland Open Data. Queensland Government. 12 November 2020. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
- ^ "Sand Bay – bay in the Mackay Region (entry 29571)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Queensland Globe". State of Queensland. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Railway stations and sidings - Queensland". Queensland Open Data. Queensland Government. 2 October 2020. Archived from the original on 5 October 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Mountain peaks and capes - Queensland". Queensland Open Data. Queensland Government. 12 November 2020. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
- ^ "The Leap – mountain in Mackay Region (entry 34007)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
- ^ "The Sister – mountain in Mackay Region (entry 34110)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
- ^ Moore, Clive. "Blackgin's Leap: A Window into Aboriginal-European Relations in the Pioneer Valley, Queensland in the 1860s" (PDF). Aboriginal History Incorporated. p. 61. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 March 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
- ^ C. Moore "Blackgin's Leap: A Window into Aboriginal-European Relations in the Pioneer Valley, Queensland in the 1860s", Aboriginal History, Volume 14, at page 67-68
- ^ Source accessed 12 December 2015: "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 June 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Item ID3000035, Disposal of the Former The Leap State School Site. - Mr B.G. Littleproud". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
- ^ Queensland Family History Society (2010), Queensland schools past and present (Version 1.01 ed.), Queensland Family History Society, ISBN 978-1-921171-26-0
- ^ "Mackay (western half)" (Map). Queensland Government. 1942. Archived from the original on 29 January 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
- ^ "Queensland Two Mile series sheet 2m309" (Map). Queensland Government. 1952. Archived from the original on 18 February 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "The Leap". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
- ^ "The Leap Cane Lift (entry 602748)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ See the Leap Hotel website: http://www.theleaphotel.com, sourced 12 December 2015
Further reading[]
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Leap, Queensland. |
- Tareha, Nicola Jane; Foundation for Australian Literary Studies (1986), The legend of The Leap, Foundation for Australian Literary Studies, ISBN 978-0-86443-204-9
- Pym, Rob (1987), Hampden State School 1887-1987, Centenary 1987 : incorporating the Leap State School, 1893-1969, Hampden Parents and Citizens Association
- The Leap, Queensland
- Mackay Region
- Coastline of Queensland
- Localities in Queensland