Dobbyn is a ghost town and former copper mine in the locality of Three Rivers, Shire of Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia.
Location
Dobbyn is located approximately 133 kilometres (83 mi) north-northwest of Cloncurry, 155 kilometres (96 mi) northeast of Mount Isa, and 917 kilometres (570 mi) west of Townsville. The nearest town is Kajabbi, 26 kilometres (16 mi) to the south. The adjacent Coppermine Creek is a tributary of the north-flowing Leichhardt River. The town's postcode is 4824.
Name Origin
The origin of the name is undetermined. It was initially recorded as "Dobbin" and later as "Dobbyn." Earliest newspaper references name the mine rather than a locale or cattle property. Dobbin's Creek was likely named for the mine and not a person, and was later renamed Coppermine Creek. By 1918, Pugh's Almanac had the map label as "Dobbin" but the country guide entry as "Dobbyn." By 1920, all references were to "Dobbyn."
History
The Dobbyn area was first settled by the Kalkadoon First Nations people. Copper ore was discovered in the Cloncurry area in the 1880s and in the Dobbyn area in the 1890s.
The town was officially established in 1916. Its streets were named with patriotic names relating to World War I military personnel: Kitchener Street (main street, running north-south), French Street, Haig Street, Orphan Road, Kay Street, Hamilton Street, and Joffre Street.
The Dobbyn State School opened in 1918 and permanently closed in March 1955 due to insufficient students. The building continued to be used as a polling station.
A railway line connecting Cloncurry to Dobbyn was established by 1917, serving the mines and the town. The line was removed in December 1961.
The town's only public hotel was destroyed by fire in May 1942. By mid-1947, a minister of the Australian Inland Mission described Dobbyn as "a hillbilly township" of nine floorless galvanised-iron houses, separated by creeks.
The opening of the uranium ore-mining town of Mary Kathleen to the south saw the movement of government buildings in 1958. The portable police station was moved to Mary Kathleen in 1957 and is now at a museum in Cloncurry.
Mining
The Crusader copper mine was established southeast of Dobbyn near Mount Crusader, discovered in the 1890s. Dobbyn became the railhead for the Mount Cuthbert and Dobbyn railway lines (1917–1961), serving the now-ghost town of Mount Cuthbert, 24 kilometres (15 mi) south-southwest of Dobbyn.
In October 1931, miners from Dobbyn, Mount Oxide, and Orphan mines went on strike regarding poor wages and conditions. The dispute led to the short-lived Railway Strike and Public Safety Preservation Act 1931 (Queensland), enacted in November 1931 and repealed weeks later. The strike was settled in early April 1932.
The economic downturn in copper in the mid-1930s saw Dobbyn and surrounding townships become depopulated. By September 1945, only three mines were still being worked: Crusader, Little Wonder, and Mussolini.
Open pit mines can still be observed in the area, including the Dobbyn mine, Orphan mine, Crusader mine, and Mount Fox area.
