Bluff, Queensland

Bluff is both a town and a locality in the Central Highlands Region, in Central Queensland, Australia. At the 2011 census, Bluff had a population of 370.GeographyThe town is located on the Capricorn Highway, 804km north west of the state capital, Brisbane.Bluff's location between some of Queensland's largest coal mines and the port of Gladstone has led to it becoming a major interchange station for large coal trains, some up to two kilometres long.HistoryBased on artefacts found on the nearby Blackdown Tableland National Park, Aboriginal people lived in this area for thousands of years.The first European settlement occurred in the district in the 1860s as early pastoralists moved to the area.The district was originally called Duckworth or Duckworth Creek, but in 1877 the name was changed to Bluff to match the name of the railway station. The Bluff name was derived from a local hill known as Arthur's Bluff.Duckworth Post Office opened by September 1906 (a receiving office had been open from late 1905) and was renamed Bluff in 1907.Duckworth Provisional School was established in January 1907 and opened in June 1907. However, the local people disliked the name Duckworth and a few months later, the name was changed to Bluff or Bluff Colliery Provisional School. On 1 January 1909, it became Bluff State School.