Gregory, Queensland


Gregory is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Burke, Queensland, Australia. In the, Gregory had a population of 72 people.

Geography

The town is situated on the banks of the perennial Gregory River. The Gregory River was named by explorer William Landsborough on 19 November 1861, after explorer Augustus Charles Gregory, the first Surveyor General of Queensland.
Gregory Downs is a pastoral station which breeds cattle on of native grazing land. It carries approximately 30,000 Brahman cattle, a breed suitable for the Gulf Country. It has an frontage to the Gregory River. It was one of the first pastoral stations established in the Gulf Country.

History

Gregory Post Office opened on 2 May 1878 and closed in 1894.
The Gregory Downs pastoral station was established in 1876 by the Watson brothers who travelled overland with approximately 900 cattle. They liked the clear running water in the Gregory River and settled at a crossing point of the river with their cattle on the western bank and their homestead on the eastern bank. In the late 1800s they built the Gregory Downs Hotel and Store near the homestead, but eventually decided that they found the travellers too much of a nuisance and so they relocated their homestead onto the western bank of the river. There was a coach service from the hotel to Burketown. The hotel also served as a post for the mounted police.
The town had a population of 40 people in 2008.
In 2013, the town was renamed from Gregory Downs to Gregory.

Amenities

The Gregory branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association meets at various locations in the district.