Tolga
Located on the Kennedy Highway just to the east of the Great Dividing Range, which separates the drainage basin of the Barron River (flowing to the Coral Sea) from that of the Mitchell River (flowing to the Gulf of Carpentaria), 5 kilometres north of Atherton, 25 kilometres south of Mareeba, 45 kilometres southwest of Cairns, and 67 kilometres northwest of Innisfail in Buluwai, Djabugay and Dyirbalŋan Country on the Atherton Tablelands, Tolga is the centre of the region's peanut industry and the location of the Big Peanut.
The Tolga Scrub, located on the southern side of the town, is one of the last remaining areas of Mabi rainforest — Australia's most drought-resistant type of rainforest— on the Atherton Tablelands. The narrow (100 metre) remnant, possibly marking the transition zone between the lush rainforest to the east and drier country on the Mitchell River catchment, may account for the town's name, taken from one of the area's ingigenous languages and reputed to mean either place where the scrub begins or red volcanic soil.
The township that grew around a Cobb and Co staging post on the coach road from Herberton to Port Douglas at Rocky Creek was named Martin Town after sawmillers George and Robert Martin. The name was changed to Tolga in 1903 when the railway line was extended from Mareeba to Atherton.
A branch line from Tolga to Yungaburra opened in March 1910, and was subsequently extended in stages, reaching Millaa Millaa in December 1921.
During World War II, the Australian Army's Ordnance Corps established the 13 Australian Advanced Ordnance Depot, its largest storage and repair centre, located to the west of the town. The depot had a staff of approximately 1,000 and featured about 150 buildings, including 18 large igloo-style storage sheds.
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