Cobb & Co. in Queensland - History in Pictures
By Myles Sinnamon - Project Coordinator, State Library of Queensland | 1 January 2016
In its hey-day, Cobb & Co. coaches provided a vital transportation link between regional towns, carrying passengers and the mail. Cobb & Co. was founded in 1853 and was well established in Victoria and New South Wales before the decision was made to extend to Queensland in 1865.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/slq_standard/public/jol-files-2016-01-cobb1.jpg?itok=0n1YFxKR)
On January 1, 1866, the first Cobb & Co. coach service began between Brisbane and Ipswich. By 1902 Cobb & Co. ran 42 coach routes throughout Queensland, covering a distance of nearly 8,000 kms. These routes included - Alpha to Tambo; Cunnamulla to Thargomindah; Adavale to Thargomindah; Longreach to Muttaburra; Jericho to Blackall; Herberton to Georgetown; Georgetown to Croydon; Winton to Cloncurry and Ilfracombe to Isisford.
The advent of motor cars and trucks saw the decline of the horse-drawn coach services. Cobb & Co. finally called it a day in 1924 with the final service running between Yuleba and Surat.
![black and white image of people and horse drawn carts stand outside a hotel in woombye](/sites/default/files/styles/slq_standard/public/jol-files-2015-12-cobbs-camp-hotel-at-woombye-queensland-ca.-1872.jpg?itok=Ax8SGcRc)
![black and white image of people on a horse drawn cart outside a building with a sign saying Pimpama Hotel](/sites/default/files/styles/slq_standard/public/jol-files-2015-12-cobb-and-co.-carriage-outside-the-pimpama-hotel-ca.-1875.jpg?itok=nYhTXGxJ)
![horse drawn cart with people standing next to it beside a building named the William fielding storekeeper](/sites/default/files/styles/slq_standard/public/jol-files-2015-12-cobb-co.-coach-outside-fieldings-store-in-boulia-ca.-1885.jpg?itok=7V0y5hRS)
![black and white image of 3 people on a horse drawn cart infront of bushland](/sites/default/files/styles/slq_standard/public/jol-files-2015-12-cobb-cos-mail-coach-on-the-port-douglas-herberton-road-queensland-1887.jpg?itok=IrNY1Hfq)
![a horse drawn cart in front of a building](/sites/default/files/styles/slq_standard/public/jol-files-2015-12-cobb-co.-coach-at-the-railway-station-in-charleville-ca.1895.jpg?itok=Eq8s0sai)
![sepia toned image of two horse and carts outside a white building](/sites/default/files/styles/slq_standard/public/jol-files-2015-12-cobb-and-co.-coach-photographed-outside-the-hotel-in-atherton-queensland.-coach-photographed-outside-the-hotel-in-atherton-queensland.jpg?itok=kwO7d-aG)
![horse drawn cart in a desert-like landscape](/sites/default/files/styles/slq_standard/public/jol-files-2015-12-cobb-co.-southport-coach-ca.-1900.jpg?itok=I7lfYMyB)
Cobb & Co. Southport coach, ca. 1900. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Neg 19475
![black and image of people standing outside a large wooden factory](/sites/default/files/styles/slq_standard/public/jol-files-2015-12-side-view-of-cobb-cos-factory-building-at-charleville-1903.jpg?itok=1Pj_DhaH)
![Cart bogged in mud](/sites/default/files/styles/slq_standard/public/jol-files-2015-12-bogged-cobb-co.-wagon-blackall-district-1908.jpg?itok=LUyYgub0)
Bogged Cobb & Co. wagon, Blackall district, 1908. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Image API-046-01-0005
![8 people sit in a large early american automobile](/sites/default/files/styles/slq_standard/public/jol-files-2015-12-cobb-and-co.-cadillac-30-carrying-passengers-between-thallon-and-st.-george-ca.-1911.jpg?itok=Ob_67n54)
![man stands in front of a handmade cart](/sites/default/files/styles/slq_standard/public/jol-files-2015-12-arthur-richardson-a-blacksmith-and-wheelwright-for-cobb-co.-charleville-ca.-1912.jpg?itok=Fx2JNSWK)
Arthur Richardson, a blacksmith and wheelwright for Cobb & Co., Charleville, ca. 1912. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Neg 39821
![black and white image of two men on a horse and cart in front of a building](/sites/default/files/styles/slq_standard/public/jol-files-2015-12-cobb-co.-coach-in-front-of-a-unknown-post-office-ca.-1920.jpg?itok=-2HXI-WQ)
Cobb & Co. coach in front of the Cloncurry Post & Telegraph Office, ca. 1920, ca. 1920. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Neg 16224
![black and white image of people on a horse drawn cart infront of bushland](/sites/default/files/styles/slq_standard/public/jol-files-2015-12-cobb-co.-coach-on-the-last-trip-between-longreach-and-jundah-january-1922.jpg?itok=ae3yi_Et)
Cobb & Co. coach on the last trip between Longreach and Jundah, January 1922. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Neg 60598
![](/sites/default/files/styles/slq_standard/public/jol-files-2016-01-cobb2.jpg?itok=Kdn1Kizo)
![](/sites/default/files/styles/slq_standard/public/jol-files-2016-01-cobb3.jpg?itok=5-MJp1yd)
Cobb and Co. route from Longreach to Jundah, c.1920. Published in Coaching in Australia : a history of the coaching firm of Cobb & Co. with guide to the present coaching routes in Queensland
You can peruse State Library of Queensland's collection of Cobb & Co. related materials via our One Search catalogue. You can also find more information at the Cobb+Co Museum in Toowoomba.
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