Years ago Thuringowa City was amalgamated with Townsville City and the name Thuringowa is just the name of a suburb and a street. It is a pity that the name Townsville was not the one to go.
Townsville does not make sense. It means town-village. Townsville is also the fictional joke name of the town where the cartoon characters The Powder-Puff Girls reside.
Townsville was named after one of the original investors who founded the town. He was also a ship owner involved in abducting Pacific Islanders f(called blackbirding)or forced labour in Queensland and he paid them in trinkets rather than cash. Payment in coin was the law.
He also gained title to land near Townsville by planting roasted coffee beans rather than coffee beans that could germinate.
When it was proposed in the 1990s to erect a statue of the Townsville's namesake in the City there was an outcry. It was realised that if completed the project would be subject to constant vandalism, so it did not proceed.
A mural of founding identities including the blackbirder was painted. But when I last checked the mural has been over painted.
I don't want to be reminded of the man, Thuringowa is a better name.
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