These ranges are a significant source of marble and calcite, and the South Ulam mine is located there.[13]
The Bruce Highway enters the locality from the east (Ambrose), passes through the town along Raglan Street, and exits to the north-west (Marmor).[14]
The North Coast railway line runs roughly parallel and north of the highway, passes through the locality with the following stations (from east to west):[14][15]
British occupation began in early January 1856 during a punitive expedition led by Lieutenant John Murray of the Native Police. Murray was tracking down local Aboriginal tribes suspected of involvement in the killing of five people at nearby Mount Larcombesheep station. With a posse comitatus of around twenty armed and mounted men, including troopers, constables and colonists, Murray surrounded a "large mob" of about a hundred Aboriginal people camped on a creek near to where the township of Raglan now stands. At the break of dawn, Murray's group attacked the camp and "bullets from a score or more carbines wrought death," with those being shot at running "from side to side in their frantic efforts to escape." Only a few escaped and these "were pursued and either shot or driven into the waters of [Keppel] Bay."[19] A participant later wrote that the ammunition they used during the attack had become exhausted and that they had to use their rifles as clubs. Many of the Aboriginal people were killed or terribly wounded but no casualties were recorded amongst Murray's group.[20]
The creek where this occurred was named Hourigan's Creek after the man who fired the first shot of the massacre. This shot was at "a huge savage who [was] seen to get up and stretch himself," the rest of the Aboriginal camp still being asleep.[19] The creek is still called Hourigan's Creek and is still used for shooting with the Raglan Target Sports Association complex being located on its banks.[21] An early resident of Raglan recorded that when he first came to the area he noticed that "the skulls of black warriors...had been made into an ornamental border for a large flower bed in the garden" of the homestead of Raglan Station.[22]
Raglan was established as a pastoral sheep station in 1857 by William Landsborough who held it for several years before selling it on.[22] The allotments for the township of Raglan were first surveyed in 1865.[23]
Gold was found in Raglan in 1867.[24][25] In August 1867 a nugget of gold was found. Described as "a monster", it was 16 inches (41 cm) long and 4 inches (10 cm) wide, weighing 30 pounds (14 kg) and worth £1,400. There were around 300 gold diggers active at the Raglan goldfield at that time.[26][27][28]
Langmorn Creek Crossing Provisional School opened on 20 October 1915 but closed circa 31 January 1916. It reopened as Langmorn Provisional School circa January 1926. On 1 January 1931 it became Langmorn State School. It closed on 26 October 1941, but reopened on 26 October 1944. It closed finally on 11 May 1962.[32] It was at 187 Langmore School Road, now in Ambrose (23°49′07″S150°52′56″E / 23.8185°S 150.8823°E / -23.8185; 150.8823 (Langmore State School (former))).[35][36][14]
The Raglan Memorial Hall was built in about 1932 and was used for dances until 1990, after which it stood idle. It was relocated to the Calliope River Historical Village in March 2002 and officially re-opened by George Creed, the mayor of Calliope Shire.[42][43]
Demographics
In the 2011 census, the locality of Raglan Raglan was included with neighbouring Ambrose and together had a population of 545 people.[44]
In the 2016 census, the locality of Raglan had a population of 146 people.[45]
In the 2021 census, the locality of Raglan had a population of 143 people.[1]
There are no schools in Raglan. The nearest government primary schools are Marmor State School in neighbouring Marmor to the north-west, Ambrose State School in neighbouring Ambrose to the east, and Bajool State School in neighbouring Bajool to the west. The nearest government secondary schools is Mount Larcom State School (to Year 10) in Mount Larcom to the south-east. For secondary education to Year 12, the nearest government secondary schools are Gladstone State High School in West Gladstone, Gladstone, to the south-east and Rockhampton State High School in Wandal, Rockhampton, to the north-east.[14]
^ ab"ALONG THE COAST". The Capricornian. Vol. 26, no. 24. Queensland, Australia. 16 June 1900. p. 41. Retrieved 27 October 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^"TRUTH IS TRU TALES". Truth. No. 255. Queensland, Australia. 25 December 1904. p. 3. Retrieved 27 October 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^ ab"THE RAINBOW TRAIL". The Capricornian. Vol. XLIX, no. 43. Queensland, Australia. 25 October 1924. p. 66. Archived from the original on 3 May 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^"TELEGRAPHIC". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. XIX, no. 2, 236. Queensland, Australia. 30 March 1865. p. 2. Archived from the original on 3 May 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Advertising". Morning Bulletin. No. 16131. Queensland, Australia. 24 April 1916. p. 1. Archived from the original on 3 May 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"RAGLAN". The Capricornian. Vol. 42, no. 1. Queensland, Australia. 6 January 1917. p. 40. Archived from the original on 3 May 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"RAGLAN". Morning Bulletin. No. 20637. Queensland, Australia. 7 September 1932. p. 3. Archived from the original on 3 May 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Raglan Memorial Hall". Calliope River Historical Village. Port Curtis Historical Society. Archived from the original on 22 June 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
^Visitor Guide booklet. Port Curtis Historical Society.
Ambrose State School Centenary Committee (2014), Ambrose State School : celebrating 100 years 1914-2014, The Centenary Committee — also includes closed schools: Bracewell State School, Raglan State School, Cedar Vale State School, East End State School, Hourigan Creek School, Hut Creek School, Langmorn School, Langmorn Creek Crossing School, Machine Creek State School
