New website charts Queensland settlement

The University of Queensland's launch of queenslandplaces.com.au - a database of all major settlements in Queensland — will be held at the University's St Lucia campus on Monday, December 7.

The new public website was developed by UQ with the support of the Queensland Government and contains entries on all the cities, towns, suburbs and villages in Queensland that have had populations of 500 or more.

University of Queensland Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Greenfield said community enthusiasm had breathed life into the new website's images.

"UQ is delighted by the response of people all over the state who dug into their slide collections in order to share their view of Queensland places with people everywhere," he said.

"Thanks to these slide contributors, UQ is able to present high-quality research - conducted over seven years - in a format that is as engaging as it is educational.

"I congratulate Professor Peter Spearritt and his team at the Centre for the Government of Queensland at UQ, along with staff of the UQ Library, and the key government personnel who delivered queenslandplaces.com.au".

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said data in the website included black and white photographs and postcards to colour slides from the 1950s-80s, which have been specifically digitised and preserved for this project.

"This exciting new website has over 1100 entries, from the 19th century boom towns of Gympie and Cooktown to the new suburbs of the 21st century," she said.

Users of the website can access the website by name of settlement or a key word search for names of places, events and themes, from the border gates at Coolangatta, to the mines of Mount Isa, and to the Torres Strait Islands.

"This is a great educational resource for teachers, students, family historians, visitors to Queensland, and everyone interested in our history, culture and ongoing development," Ms Bligh said.

With over 500,000 words and over 5000 illustrations, queenslandplaces.com.au is a major contribution to Queensland's 150th anniversary celebrations in 2009.

Media: Professor Peter Spearritt, telephone 07 3365 2698.