Preston, Queensland (Whitsunday Region)

Preston is a rural locality in the Whitsunday Region, Queensland, Australia. In the, Preston had a population of 346 people.

The town of Bonavista is within the south of the locality (-20.382°N, 148.651°W).

Geography
The locality is bounded to the west and south by the Proserpine River.

The main road route through the locality is Conway Road which enters the locality from the north-west (Mount Julian / Mount Marlow), passes through the town of Bonavista, and then exits to the south-east (Conway / Palm Grove).

The elevation ranges from 10 to 270 m. The lower-lying land is mostly in the west of the locality and is used for growing sugarcane. There is a cane tramway to transport the harvested sugarcane to the local sugar mill. The higher land are mostly used for grazing on native vegetation.

History
The town of Bonavista was originally called Conway, which was derived from Cape Conway, which was named on 3 June 1770 by Lieutenant James Cook, commander of HMS Endeavour, after British Secretary of State for the Southern Department, Henry Seymour Conway. The town was renamed Bonavista from 3 January 1961. However, the road to the town is still called Conway Road.

Demographics
In the, Preston had a population of 296 people.

In the, Preston had a population of 346 people.

Education
There are no schools in Preston. The nearest government primary schools are Proserpine State School in Proserpine to the west and Cannonvale State School in Cannonvale to the north-east. The nearest government secondary school is Proserpine State High School, also in Proserpine.