Surat (Queensland)

Surat is a small rural town on the Balonne River, approximately 75km south of Roma on the Carnarvon Highway in South West Queensland. It is 450km west of Brisbane. At the, Surat had a population of 426.The district was first mapped by Surveyor-General Sir Thomas Mitchell in 1846. By the end of the 1840s pastoralists had penetrated the area, and in 1849 Mitchell directed a surveyor, Burrowes, to select a township site on the Balonne River. Burrowes did so and named it after the diamond-polishing city of Surat, after his former place of residence in present-day Gujarat state, then known as the Bombay Province, India.There are oil fields further south.FacilitiesSurat has a public library, a Cobb & Co changing station, social history museum, theatre and shire hall and the Balonne gallery.Heritage listingsSurat has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: 77 Burrowes Street: Astor Theatre cnr Cordelia & William Streets: Warroo Shire Hall