Jandowae, Queensland

Jandowae is a small rural town in the Wambo Shire, surrounded by rich alluvial soil and has been known by many names. Rich soils have lead to pastures of sorghum, oats, and sunflowers. We also saw dairy and beef cattle, but no sheep, which were in the district in the past. The area was first known as Jindoweie, an Aboriginal name for waterhole. This name was first used by Europeans in 1862 when the settlement was proclaimed. Like many country towns, a rest area was established by John Dowaie on the bank of the creek where he had a grain storage shed, and it was known as Jondowaie Camp. John Dowaie had established a store in settlement to provide provisions to travellers and the nearby stations. When the railway came in 1914, the name was considered to close to Jondaryan so the name was changed to Jandowae to avoid confusion. With the coming of the railway the town grew.

The first European settlers arrived in the area in the 1860’s and the first white child, Henry Bateman, was born in 1866. 

There are a few old buildings in the town, including three pubs – the top pub, middle pub and bottom pub. The top pub, The Club Hotel, was built by Mulholland in 1912 and was the first pub in Jandowae and was a two storey pub. The Queensland National Bank traded from one of the pub rooms until the bank was built nearby. It was painted pink about 1992. It is now private residences.

The middle pub – The Exchange Hotel, 

and the bottom pub – Jandowae Hotel still operate as pubs.

The National Queensland Bank, that originally operated out of the The Club Hotel, was built in 1913 and is now a private residence. There is a great webpage about the National Queensland Bank that became the National Australia Bank. The old NAB bank http://www.oldnab.com/early-jandowae/

At the top of town, near the bottom pub??/top pub is historic Athlone Cottage, built about 1890. 

This is a lovely restored slab cottage with a beautiful small old fashioned garden at front and a working widmill water pump. This hut was originally located near Jandowae Dam and was occupied up to the 1970’s, and then used for storage. It was moved in 2001 to its present position and opened as part of the biannual festival if Timbertown in 2004. This is a lovely area to visit and walk around. There is a viewing platform on the river, an old dairy building, a shearers quarters, and an old school building.

Along George St and Main St are painted poles depicting the history of the area, some outside the dwellings depicting what they were originally used for. This one is outside the Jandowae Pharmacy (pictured above).

There are also a few murals around town.

Located on the main street, on the corner of George and High Streets is a large 2 metre sculpture of a dingo that represents the northern end of the dingo fence – The Longest Fence in the World. Made by Scottish sculptor Andy Scott and made of galvanised steel bits, the statue is surrounded by a replica of the fence as it was in 1948.

A short drive from Jandowae one can see a section of the fence. We drove down to follow a section of the fence that we had followed some years ago, only to find most of the track we previously followed is now ‘behind a fence’ and not accessible. Originally built as a rabbit fence to stop the plague of rabbits invading the rich fertile growing areas of the now Darling Downs. Finished in 1885, and 5614 km long, it was at one stage over 8000km and stretched from Queensland through the north-west of New South Wales down to South Australia. It was unsuccessful keeping rabbits out, and in 1914 it was converted into a wild dog fence.

We stayed at the Showgrounds for two nights, and would recommend it. There is a free camp just out of town at the Jandowae Dam, and the Golf Club north of town offers sites for self contained vans. The town has the pubs, bowls club and cafes for meals, coffees etc., and there is a butcher, chemist, SPAR supermarket, and other services one may want. Most were open with restrictions now that COVID is hopefully under control in Queensland.

Markets are held the fourth Sunday of every month, and the Jandowae Timbertown Festival is held June every two years, so we may well go back next June.

A lovely town, friendly people, and well worth a visit.