Hendon, Queensland

Hendon is a small rural community located in the Southern Downs region of Queensland, Australia, situated 25km north of Warwick and about 160km southwest of Brisbane. In the 2006 census, Hendon had a population of 519.HistoryThe village of Hendon developed after the opening of the Southern & Western Railway from Gowrie Junction (near Toowoomba) to Hendon on 11 March 1869. The southern line was extended to Millhill on 9 January 1871, and across the Condamine River to Warwick and Cherry Gully on 8 December 1880; it eventually reached the New South Wales border at Wallangarra in 1887.Hendon Post Office opened on 1 April 1877 and closed in 1968.Hendon served as the railhead for the town of Allora (surveyed in 1859), located four miles to the northeast. Black-soil roads linking Allora with the railway were often impassable after heavy rain. The residents of Allora and the Allora Municipal Council lobbied for a railway connection, which was opened from Hendon to Allora on 21 April 1897. The railway was built under the Railways Guarantee Act (1895), which required the Allora Municipal Council to share any losses and profits with the Railway Department for a period of 14 years. Due to the branch line's short length, the revenue apportionment between the main and branch lines was adjusted in 1899 to ensure the branch line's receiving its fair share of income. When the guarantee expired, the Allora Municipal Council received £1,200 as its share of the profits. An extension of the branch to Goomburra (east of Allora) opened on 23 August 1912.