QLDPort & river
Goondiwindi
A river camp became Queensland’s highway hinge.
1858Town surveyed · border crossing and teamsters’ stop
WHAT STARTED IT
Goondiwindi formed where teamsters carrying supplies into western Queensland stopped beside the Macintyre River. The colonial border fixed the crossing’s importance; a town was surveyed in 1858 and customs administration followed.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
Telegraph arrived in 1872 and the first bridge opened in 1878. Railway access from Warwick came in 1908, but highways and trucking ultimately mattered more. Cotton later became a leading district crop.
TURNING POINTS
1858Town surveyed.
1878First bridge crosses the Macintyre.
1908Railway reaches Goondiwindi.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
An agricultural and freight centre at the meeting of major inland highways, protected from the Macintyre by levees.