Yuru (also known as
Juru, Euronbba, Juru, Mal Mal, Malmal) is an
Australian Aboriginal language spoken on Yuru country. The Yuru language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the
Shire of Burdekin, including the town of Home Hill.'''' Home Hill was originally part of the Inkerman Downs Cattle Station. In August 1910, the Inkerman estate was resumed by the Queensland Government under the Closer Settlement Act. It was subdivided into farming allotments. Although the town of Ayr was very close by, there was no bridge across the Burdekin River and hence it was necessary to establish a separate town to support the new farming community. The first blocks of town land were offered for sale in December 1912 under the name of Home Hill. The origin of the name
Home Hill is much disputed. The
Queensland Government claims it was named after
Home Hill, a hilltop defended by the British Army in the
Battle of Inkerman in the
Crimean War. Another claim is that the name was originally
Holme Hill which was corrupted into
Home Hill, possibly by a signwriter painting the name at the railway station
. A newspaper report in September 1912 calls the proposed town
Holme Hill but also makes the connection with the Battle of Inkerman. Certainly the
Hill part of the name does not relate to the local geography which is quite flat with the nearest hill is about away. In the 1990s there were rumours that the post office would be closed. However, eventually the decision was made to privatise it in 1997. The
Inkerman Bridge across the Burdekin River to
McDesme officially opened on 8 September 1913. The bridge carried the North Coast railway line. As the nearest road bridge across the river was upstream, a low-level road bridge was built across the river () in 1929 and was completed in January 1930 and within two weeks was under water due to the river flooding. Due to the frequent flooding of the river, the rail and road bridges were often closed or damaged, leading to the decision to build a single higher-level road-and-rail bridge. Due to the lack of rock in the sandy soil to use as foundations, for many years it was not believed possible to build a high-level bridge across the Burdekin River. However, by copying construction techniques used in India for sand-footing bridges, work began on the
Burdekin Bridge (also known as the Silver Link) in April 1947 but it was not operational until 27 March 1957. The new bridge was upstream of the Inkerman Bridge. The Burdekin Bridge officially opened on 15 June 1957. At , the Burdekin Bridge is one of the longest multi-span bridges in Australia and the only one in Australia without a firm footing. Some pylons of the Inkerman Bridge are still visible. The farming allocations were taken up to grow sugar cane and the town developed quite quickly after the establishment of the Inkerman sugar mill in 1914. The earliest recorded burials in Home Hill cemetery were in 1917. In 2007 a lawn cemetery section was added. In 1923, the first courthouse in Home Hill opened, operating from a timber building that had formerly been used as Jensen's Boot Palace. The building was relocated to the present courthouse site, where it was replaced by the extant brick structure in 1937. The court house closed in 1991 after which it was occupied by a tourist information centre and then local radio station Sweet FM. Home Hill's own newspaper the
Home Hill Observer commenced in 1923 under proprietor and editor Thomas (Tom) Jackson, relocating offices a number of times over the years. In June 2014, the newspaper ceased publication; the then editor was David Jackson, grandson of Tom. The Home Hill Agricultural, Horticultural and Industrial Society held its first
show on 20 November 1926. In 1935 the society established its own grounds and erected pavilions. The shows were held annually (apart from 1942 to 1944 due to
World War II) until 2001 when the shows were no longer economically viable. It was operated by the
Sisters of Mercy until 1967 when it came under the control of the
Townsville Catholic Education Office. On 16 February 1959,
Cyclone Connie struck Home Hill. No building escaped damage with every window broken in the main street. One hundred people were made homeless. The first Home Hill Harvest Festival was held in 1963. Home Hill State High School opened on 28 January 1964. Some farmers began to experiment with rice in the 1960s with a local rice mill opening in 1968. However, the rice industry collapsed in Queensland in 1994 when the Queensland Rice Marketing Board experienced financial difficulties bringing this crop to an end in the Home Hill area. However, other crops have been introduced to the area and found their niche in the economy; they include mangoes, cucumbers, tomatoes, chillies, sorghum, maize, cotton and cassava. In August 2016, two British backpackers were
killed in a stabbing attack at the Home Hill Backpackers
hostel, leaving others injured, by a French national shouted "Allahu Akbar" during the killings and during his arrest and who had allegedly used
cannabis on the night of the attack. == Demographics ==