The Julia Creek Hotel

Julia Creek
Service centre on the road between Townsville and Mt Isa.
Located 632 km west of Townsville and 411 m above sea level, Julia Creek can claim to be the first European settlement in north western Queensland. The remarkable Donald Macintyre arrived in the area in 1862 - only a year after the ill–fated Burke and Wills expedition had passed through the region on the way north to the Gulf.

Macintyre didn't come as a result of the explorations of Landsborough or Frederick Walker (who opened up the area while searching for Burke and Wills) but rather on his own initiative. He travelled up the Darling River and established the property 'Dalgonally' about 70 km north of the present town.

The creek upon which the town is located was originally named Scorpion but, in 1870, it was changed to Julia Creek in honour of Donald Macintyre's niece. Julia Creek's moment of importance came with the arrival of the railway in 1908 which meant that the town became the railhead for north western Queensland. The transport industry became the town's main economic raison d'etre until the railway moved on to Cloncurry and Mount Isa.

The main industries in the area around Julia Creek are beef and wool production. It is, like so many of the towns in the Gulf, a service centre. Even the locals admit that they have little to attract the tourist.

Things to see:  

Gannon's Hotel
The town achieved some small level of fame in Nevill Shute's A Town Like Alice when the hero Joe Harman overlands 1400 cattle from the Gulf to Julia Creek. He stays at the fictional Post Office Hotel which was obviously based on Gannon's Hotel, which is over the road from the Post Office. The fact that there is a Post Office Hotel in Cloncurry may mean that Shute was fictionally blending the two towns.

Macintyre Museum
There is the Macintyre Museum in Burke Street (the main street) but it is largely a collection of shire records, old photographs and equipment relating to the early sheep and beef industries.

Eddington Arms Hotel
One of the shire's genuine curiosities is the remarkable Eddington Arms Hotel at Gilliat - turn off the Flinders Highway 22 km west of the town. It is an old corrugated iron pub which is virtually unchanged since its construction in 1908. It is one of the most authentic pubs in western Queensland - anyone at all interested in what west Queensland was like at the turn of the century should pay it a visit.

	Motels
	Julia Creek Motel Flinders Hwy Julia Creek QLD 4823 Telephone: (07) 4746 7305 Rating: **
	Hotels
	Gannonšs Hotel/Motel 36 Burke St Julia Creek QLD 4823 Telephone: (07) 4746 7103
	Julia Creek Hotel 33 Goldring St Julia Creek QLD 4823 Telephone: (07) 4746 7175 Facsimile: (07) 4746 7311
	Caravan Parks
	Julia Creek Caravan Park Old Normanton Rd Julia Creek QLD 4823 Telephone: (07) 4746 7108 Rating: **
	Restaurants
	Gannonšs Hotel/Motel 36 Burke St Julia Creek QLD 4823 Telephone: (07) 4746 7103
	Julia Creek Hotel Flinders Hwy Julia Creek QLD 4823 Telephone: (07) 4746 7305 Rating: **
	Town & Country Club 92 Burke St Julia Creek QLD 4823 Telephone: (07) 4746 7222