Gregory Downs is a pastoral station which breeds cattle on 266,425 hectares (658,350 acres) of native grazing land. It carries approximately 30,000 Brahman cattle, a breed suitable for the Gulf Country. It has an 85-kilometre (53 mi) frontage to the Gregory River.[5] It was one of the first pastoral stations established in the Gulf Country.[6]
History
Gregory Post Office opened on 2 May 1878 and closed in 1894.[7]
The Gregory Downs pastoral station was established in 1876 by the Watson brothers (Harry F. Watson, Sidney Grandison Watson and Robert McGregor Watson) who travelled overland with approximately 900 cattle. They liked the clear running water in the Gregory River and settled at a crossing point of the river with their cattle on the western bank and their homestead on the eastern bank. In the late 1800s they built the Gregory Downs Hotel and Store near the homestead (18°38′59″N139°15′12″E / 18.6497°N 139.2533°E / 18.6497; 139.2533 (Gregory Downs Hotel)), but eventually decided that they found the travellers too much of a nuisance and so they relocated their homestead onto the western bank of the river (18°38′30″S139°15′06″E / 18.6417°S 139.2517°E / -18.6417; 139.2517 (Gregory Downs homestead)).[8] There was a coach service from the hotel to Burketown. The hotel also served as a post for the mounted police.[6]
The town had a population of 40 people in 2008.[9]
In 2013, the town was renamed from Gregory Downs to Gregory.[10]
Demographics
In the 2016 census, the locality of Gregory had a population of 72 people.[11]
In the 2021 census, the locality of Gregory had a population of 122 people.[1]
Education
There are no schools in Gregory. The nearest government primary school is Burketown State School in neighbouring Burketown to the north; however, Gregory is so large that the school would only be accessible to those living in the northern parts of Gregory. There are no secondary schools in Gregory, nor nearby. Other options for schooling are distance education and boarding schools.[12]
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