Toompine Hotel

Toompine - An Incomplete History.
All that now remains of the once bustling community is a small hotel with a rather grand name "The South Western Hotel" , but usually referred to by local people as "the Toompine Pub". Modern visitors always ask "Why was is built in such an isolated place?" for it is situated 74kms south of Quilpie, 114 north of Thargomindah and 260km north west of Cunnamulla. However it wasn't always so isolated.
Early history is sketchy, pastoral settlement first began to sweep out this way in the 1860's. The western movement within Queensland being swelled by an invasion of settlers from the south. Most came by bullock dray, others on horseback, or pushbike, or even walking and carrying swags. Huge pastoral holdings were taken up along the edge of the channel country and though these have been cut into smaller holdings through the intervening years, many of the original names remain like Ardoch, Kiandra, Nyngin and Wombin to name a few.
The first known publican at Toompine was John Webber, who had already settled at Kyabra station and acquired a partnership in the "Peppin" opal mine. Possibly John Webber built the first hotel, but by 1866 Mrs Scanlan is also mentioned as being the owner and ran the hotel for many years. About this time many settlers had arrived, Duck creek and Coparella mines were in full swing with up to six hundred miners and their families living near the mines, or at Toompine. While the nearby stations employed large numbers of ringers (stockmen) to help run their properties the drovers were also bringing thousands of sheep and cattle to grazing lands. The hotel became a changing post and overnight stop for Cobb and Co. coaches on the Thargo to Cheepie "Run". It boasted a beautiful coach lamp on a tall pole outside the front door which must surely have been a welcome sight to weary travellers. Soon an ambitious town plan was drawn up by the Survey Department. Forty-four building building blocks were laid out along the creek. A police reserve was conveniently placed opposite the hotel and soon there were houses, two shops, a watchmaker and jeweller, two hotels and a jail. The jail was later built of pise with bottomless beer bottles inserted in the walls to provide ventilation but it must have been appalliing in the middle of the western summer for the hapless prisoners.
One of the stores was owned by Henry Yelf, who supplied not only groceries, but everything from the needle to the haystack. Some interesting relics have emerged from the ruins of "Yelf's Store" which eventually burned down in 1936. A set of wedding and engagement rings, a complete set of the alphabet in stencil, bycicle parts, branding irons, saddlery ect. There is a Yelf's Hill and Yelf's Paddock names after this pioneer shopkeeper.