Wulguru, Queensland


Wulguru is a southern suburb of Townsville in the City of Townsville, Queensland, Australia.

Geography

Wulguru is a centrally located suburb with two major shopping centres near by being Fairfield Waters and Annandale Central. Around Wright Street there are many Queenslander-style houses.
The bushy hills in some areas provide panoramic views of Townsville and Magnetic Island. Most of the area is owned by the Australian Army and is fenced off.

History

"Wulguru" is the name of an Aboriginal language and it is claimed that the word itself means "windy valley".

Heritage listings

Wulguru has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
The Edison Street Plaza is a small neighbourhood centre in Wulguru that lost several of its stores in 2017–2018, including Edison Street Seafood, video hire, Chinese take-away, St Vincent De Paul op shop, a butcher, and a hairdressing salon. A mini-mart store remained, and the seafood/fish and chips shop and the Chinese takeaway were reopened early in 2019 by the mini-mart operator. Next to the school is a park and several soccer fields as well as a scout hall. Other schools close to the vicinity of Wulguru are Southern Cross Catholic School and William Ross High School.

Education

Across the road from the shopping plaza is Wulguru State School which caters for students from Prep to Year 6. It opened on 30 January 1962.
The schools close to the vicinity of Wulguru are Southern Cross Catholic College and William Ross High School in Annandale.

World War 2 bunker

At the corner of Diamantina Street and Stuart Drive is a large block of land at the base of Mount Stuart. During World War II, this was the site of No. 3 Fighter Sector RAAF including the Operations and Signals Bunker. Three Fighter Sector headquarters comprised 32 rooms in the large rectangular concrete building with caneite partitions forming various passageways. The building still stands today and is 60 ft by 42 ft. The mezzanine floor has long since disappeared.
The bunker structure is classified in the Queensland Heritage Register and encompasses the boundary of Diamantina Street, Stuart Drive and Hill Street.