Discover Goondiwindi: a border town with a surprising history
By Chris Currie | 29 January 2025
Goondiwindi is a Queensland town on the banks of the Macintyre River with an estimated population of 10,452. It has a rich history as a meeting place, trading post and as the birthplace of Australia's best-loved racehorses, Gunsynd.
Sitting 350km southwest of Brisbane, the town sits at the junction of 5 highways on the border of Queensland and New South Wales.
Over the years, its location has made it a vital trading post, checkpoint, administrative centre and travelling waypoint.
During the 1919 influenza epidemic, the Macintyre Bridge was a guarded border crossing – with history repeating during the COVID-19 pandemic border closures.
Today, 'Gundy' offers much to do for locals and visitors looking to explore its rich history and scenic attractions, including Customs House Museum, Goondiwindi Cotton, Macintyre River Walk and local markets.
Goondiwindi fast facts
- In 1922, the town became an unexpected site of global significance, as one of the best places on earth to view a total solar eclipse that travelled directly over ‘Gundy’ on Friday 22 September
- It was chosen as one of 14 border posts established after Queensland became a colony separate from New South Wales, to maintain tariff walls and increase revenue
- The Goondiwindi Botanic Gardens is one of the few in Australia to feature only plants native to a single catchment (the Upper Darling Basin)
- After decades of devastating floods, a levee was built in 1956 to keep the town dry, a job it still does to this day. A monument to the levee was built after the 2011 floods, wrapping around the town’s ‘Tree of Knowledge’
- The town's horse-racing history dates back to 1869, and has produced 3 Melbourne Cup winners and arguably Australia’s most beloved racehorse, Gunsynd, who is commemorated with a statue in the town's Apex Park.
Gunsynd being ridden at trackwork April 1973.
A photograph of the 1922 solar eclipse, taken in Goondiwindi on September 21, 1922.
How do you pronounce Goondiwindi?
The local pronunciation is Gun-diwindi, often shortened to ‘Gundy’ (‘a darn fine spot’), as in Betty Bell’s 1957 publication A Town Like Gundy.
The town’s name is derived from the original pastoral run Gundawindi, which in turn is said to be based on the Aboriginal word Goonawinna, thought to mean ‘resting place of the birds’.
Goondiwindi's early history
Where the town stands today is part of country traditionally owned by the Bigambul people. The Bigambul language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries that extend to the towns of Yelarbon and Texas continuing north towards Moonie and Millmerran.
The town's colonial history began around 1837 as a makeshift settlement on the north bank of the Macintyre River where three pastoral properties (Callandoon, Umbercollie and Gundawindi) met and men driving bullock teams from Maitland could camp.
Temporary camp set up near Goondiwindi, ca. 1865.
By 1862, several people had settled permanently at the site and by the 1870s, the settlement had acquired a store, courthouse, blacksmith’s, market garden and a school.
The Mcintyre Bridge through years
SWIPE TO VIEW PHOTOS
Punting on the Macintyre River, Goondiwindi, c. 1880
Discover more about Queensland
Resources from State Library collections
A town like Gundy, 1957, Betty Bell, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland
Goondiwindi: A Pictorial History, 2009, Diane Cairns, Goondiwindi & District Family History Society, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland
The Goondiwindi Story, 1988, Graham Todd, Boolarong, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland
History and description of Goondiwindi, 1971, Goondiwindi and District Historical Society, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland
Mary Gunn Evans Oral History Interview 2014, Mary Gunn Evans and Helen Gregory, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland
A short history of Goondiwindi and the Macintyre, together with explanatory matter and useful information concerning the solar eclipse which will occur on Thursday, September the 21st, 1922, 1922, Edgar Brown, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland
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