page_title: Charters Towers Central State School
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Charters Towers Central State School / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Students gathered outside the Girls Central State School, Charters Towers, 1904.
context_page_description: Charters Towers Central State School is a heritage-listed state school at 39-47 High Street, Charters Towers City, Charters Towers, Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Queensland Department of Public Works and built in 1900 by Benjamin Toll. It is also known as Charters Towers Girls' and Infants' Central State School, Charters Towers Boys' Central State School, Charters Towers Girls' Central State School, Charters Towers Girls' School, and Charters Towers State High School. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 28 November 2014.
context_section_description: The school now known as Charters Towers Central State School opened on its current site, east of High Street and south of Aland Street, on 13 August 1883 as Charters Towers State School for Girls and Infants. As the town and school attendance grew, the school expanded to have new teaching buildings, other structures, and landscape elements. A highset Department of Public Works timber teaching building was added to the east of the original school building in 1900, initially as a separate school for infants. This infants' teaching building, which addresses Aland Street, was later used as a high school, and then as a separate boys school, before the girls', infants' and boys' schools on the site combined as Charters Towers Central State School in 1965. The Charters Towers Central State School has been in continuous operation since its establishment on the current site in 1883 (and from 1875 at a previous site) and has been a focus for the local community as a place for important social and cultural activity.
  Traditionally the land of the Gudjal people, European settlement of the Charters Towers area began when gold was discovered at the foot of Towers Hill in December 1871. The find was reported in January 1872, and the Charters Towers Goldfield was officially proclaimed on 31 August 1872. Two settlements were established; one became Charters Towers and the other 4 miles (6.4 km) distant became Millchester. There was rivalry between the two settlements, but Charters Towers soon dominated. Charters Towers was proclaimed a municipality (the Borough of Charters Towers) on 21 June 1877, and a heightened phase of prosperity was entered after the great wealth of the Day Dawn reef was discovered in 1878.
  The first local state school opened in 1874 in Millchester, while Charters Towers Primary School opened on 18 October 1875, on a 5-acre (2.0 ha) block, three blocks west of today's Charters Towers Central State School, on the site now occupied by a high school. However, this land was not gazetted until September 1876, after miners were seen pegging ground within the school.
  The provision of state-administered education was important to the colonial governments of Australia. National schools were established in 1848 in New South Wales and continued in Queensland following the colony's creation in 1859. After the introduction of the Education Act 1860, Queensland's public schools grew from four in 1860 to 230 by 1875. The State Education Act 1875 provided for free, compulsory and secular primary education and the establishment of the Department of Public Instruction. This further standardised the provision of education, and despite difficulties, achieved the remarkable feat of bringing basic literacy to most Queensland children by 1900.
  The establishment of schools was considered an essential step in the development of early communities and integral to their success. Locals often donated land and labour for a school's construction and the school community contributed to maintenance and development. Schools became a community focus, a symbol of progress, and a source of pride, with enduring connections formed with past pupils, parents, and teachers. The inclusion of war memorials and community halls reinforced these connections and provided a venue for a wide range of community events in schools across Queensland.
  The Queensland Government developed standard plans for its school buildings to help ensure consistency and economy. From the 1860s until the 1960s, Queensland school buildings were predominantly timber framed, an easy and cost-effective approach that also enabled the government to provide facilities in remote areas. Standard designs were continually refined in response to changing needs and educational philosophy and Queensland school buildings were particularly innovative in climate control, lighting, and ventilation. Standardisation produced distinctly similar schools across Queensland with complexes of typical components.
  The Charters Towers Primary School initially consisted of one building, with separate play sheds for
caption: Students gathered outside the Girls Central State School, Charters Towers, 1904
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