Eudlo, Hunchy, Dulong

Origin of name

The name Eudlo is of Aboriginal origin and means "fresh water eel".

Early history of settlement

Cattlemen and timbergetters came to the area from the 1860s, but land was not made available for agricultural selection until the 1880s. The first selector was James Steele in 1887. In 1891, the section of the North Coast Railway from Landsborough to Yandina was opened. It brought closer settlement to the whole district, and facilitated the transport of passengers, timber, fruit and produce. A sawmill was built at Eudlo and large quantities of timber from the Blackall Range, and surrounding forests, were either treated at the mill or railed to other centres. The timber industry was the means of livelihood for the early settlers. Eudlo State School was opened in 1897.

Dulong is an Aboriginal word meaning "mud" or "wet clay". The area contained large quantities of red cedar, beech and pine, which attracted timbergetters in the 1860s. The first settler on Dulong was John Murtagh in 1888. The Dulong Provisional School was opened in 1895 and the Dulong-Kureelpa School of Arts building in 1906. By the early 1900s, sugarcane was being grown on Dulong, and the Moreton Sugar Mill constructed a tram line up the Dulong Range to collect the harvest. Eventually cane-growing ceased in the Dulong-Kureelpa area and dairy farming took its place.

Situated in the foothills of the Blackall Range, Hunchy was first called Hunchback.