Wondecla, Queensland

Wondecla is a rural locality in the Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the, Wondecla had a population of 661 people.

Geography
The Kennedy Highway roughly forms the south-east boundary of the locality. Longlands Gap–Herberton Road passes through the locality from north-west (coming from Herberton) to the south-east, joining the Kennedy Highway at the south-east boundary.

The western part of the locality is around 900–950 metres above sea level and is flat enough to be used as farmland. The northern, eastern and southern parts of the locality are more mountainous with numerous unnamed peaks (between 1000 and 1100 metres) and are not developed. The north-east of the locality is protected as the Herberton Range National Park and the Herberton Range Conservation Park. The southern part of the locality is The Bluff State Forest.

Wondecla Creek rises in the south-east of the locality and flows through the lower parts of the locality towards the north-east where it has its confluence with the Wild River, which then becomes the locality's western boundary.

History
Wondecla was originally called Nigger Creek. It takes its current name from the former Wondecla railway station on the Tablelands railway line. The station's name was assigned by the Queensland Railways Department on 31 July 1911. Wondecla is believed to be an Aboriginal word meaning the junction of creeks, which probably refers to the confluence of the Wild River and the Wondecla Creek given that the station was near the confluence.

The Nigger Creek Provisional School opened 7 May 1883. On 1 January 1909 it became Nigger Creek State School. In 1922 it was renamed Wondecla State School. It closed on 20 July 1958.

A postal receiving office opened at Nigger Creek about 1899. Nigger Creek Post Office was opened in October 1910 and was renamed Wondecla Post Office on 1 June 1918. The post office closed 30 June 1975.

In World War II as part of the Atherton Project, tent encampments were established by the Australian Army (6th and 7th Divisions) near Wondecla, Wongabel, and Ravenshoe.

Demographics
In the, Wondecla had a population of 638 people.

In the, Wondecla had a population of 661 people.