The Gregory Highway runs through the eastern end, and the Peak Downs Highway enters from the east. The Clermont Connection Road links the Gregory Highway to the CBD, and the Clermont-Alpha Road starts in the CBD and exits to the south-west.[5]
History
Clermont State School, ~1905Flood damaged, two-storey house, 1916Leo Hotel moving along Lime Street after the flood, 1917
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, close to what was Babbinburra clan land.
The town reserve was proclaimed on 25 March 1864, although a gold field was declared in the area in 1862.[7] Clermont is named after Clermont-Ferrand in France; Clermont-Ferrand was the ancestral home of Oscar de Satge, one of the first European graziers who owned the Wolfang Downs pastoral run.[8]
Theresa Creek Post Office opened by 1863, was replaced by Coppermines Post Office at the end of 1863 and Clermont Post Office in 1864.[9]
Peak Downs Telegram Office
In the 1860s and 1870s the area around Clermont was known as "the Peak Downs". The first newspaper, the Peak Downs Telegram and Mining Record, was established in August 1864, and the first issue was dated Tuesday, 4 October.[10][11]
In 1935, Clermont was important line linking with Charters Towers for public telephone communications.[12]
Clermont State School opened on 27 August 1867.[15][16][17]
A Congregational church opened in North Copperfield in November 1868.[18]
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 Clermont in 1886 of a Chinese father and English mother.
The Presbyterian Church in Clermont was formally re-opened on Sunday 10 June 1883.[19]
The railway was extended north from Emerald to Clermont in February 1884. However, no passenger trains are available to or from Clermont.
A Wesleyan Methodist Church opened in Clermont on the corner of Box Street and Capella Street on Sunday 19 September 1886. This is the site of the current Clermont Uniting Church, but the current church building was built circa 1970.[20][21][22]
The town was originally established on low-lying ground next to a lagoon or billabong; 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, Gordon Pullar took numerous photographs of the moving buildings, published in the 1980s as "A Shifting Town".[24][25]
In the mid-1920s, The Capricornian newspaper refers to a Mr P. Matones (Matonez) as being one of the first owners of the Paris café in Clermont.[26] John (Jack) and Marouli (Monty) Faros took over the Café in the 1930s. It operated until 1992.[27]
The Clermont public library was opened in 1962.[28]
On 27 January 1959 a secondary department was added to Clermont State School, providing secondary education for years 8 to 12. That arrangement ceased with the opening of Clermont State High School on 29 January 1990.[15][16][17][29]
Mistake Creek State School opened in the former locality of Mistake Creek on 24 January 1983.[30]
Glencore is currently operating the Clermont Mine, located 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) north west of Clermont.[39] When the mine reaches full capacity it will produce up to 12.2 million tonnes of thermal coal for international markets. Clermont Mine delivered its first conveyor of coal in April 2010.[40]
Clermont also hosted another larger coal mine; Blair Athol coal mine, located 20 kilometres (12 mi) north west of Clermont. The mine supplied customers in Asia and Europe with up to 12 million tonnes of thermal coal per annum. The coal deposit was originally discovered on the site in 1864[41] and was first mined in 1890. Between 1920 and 1945 coal was mined with an underground method, which is still visible today. The most recent open cut operation started in 1984. Blair Athol Mine was closed on 26 November 2012 after it became completely mined out,[41] with its stockpile and train facilities to be used by the Clermont Mine.[41]
Mistake Creek State School is a government primary (Prep–6) school for boys and girls at 6652 Alpha Road (22°59′20″S147°05′00″E / 22.9889°S 147.0833°E / -22.9889; 147.0833 (Mistake Creek State School)).[47][48] In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 14 students with 2 teachers and 2 non-teaching staff (1 full-time equivalent).[49] This school is within the former locality of Mistake Creek, which was discontinued and absorbed into neighbouring localities in May 2019; the school is now within the enlarged boundaries of the locality of Clermont.[2]
^"YACAMUNDA STATION". Central Queensland Herald. 1 August 1935. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
^"CLERMONT". The Queenslander. Vol. I, no. 41. Queensland, Australia. 10 November 1866. p. 8. Archived from the original on 9 December 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"PEAK DOWNS". Northern Argus. No. 457. Queensland, Australia. 17 September 1866. p. 4. Archived from the original on 9 December 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^ abQueensland Family History Society (2010), Queensland schools past and present (Version 1.01 ed.), Queensland Family History Society, ISBN978-1-921171-26-0
^"CLERMONT". The Queenslander. Vol. III, no. 146. Queensland, Australia. 21 November 1868. p. 5. Archived from the original on 9 December 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"CLERMONT". Morning Bulletin. Vol. XXXIV, no. 4744. Queensland, Australia. 1 October 1886. p. 5. Archived from the original on 9 December 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^Blake, Thom. "Clermont Methodist Church". Queensland religious places database. Archived from the original on 11 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
^"CLERMONT". The Capricornian. Queensland, Australia. 7 November 1925. p. 9. Archived from the original on 11 September 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2020 – via Trove.
^ abcMelissa Maddison; Paul Robinson (26 November 2012). "Sun goes down on Blair Athol mine". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 26 November 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
^"Clermont Library". Public Libraries Connect. State Library of Queensland. 21 June 2017. Archived from the original on 15 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
Pullar, G. C. (Gordon Cumming); Stringer, Marguerite, 1942-; Stringer, Richard, 1936- (1986), A shifting town : glass-plate images of Clermont and its people by G.C. Pullar, University of Queensland Press, ISBN978-0-7022-2012-8{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) — full text available online
