Peachester Public Dip

Tucked away in dense bushland, about 1.5km north-west of Peachester, is a cattle dip dating to 1915. Its roof can be seen from the road and is a reminder of a time when all stock had to be regularly dipped to counteract the impact and spread of the cattle tick. The cattle tick (Boophilus microplus) is thought to have been introduced via Indonesia to Darwin in the 1870s. Tick fever spread to Queensland in the early 1890s caused by three different blood-borne bacteria carried in the ticks. The Queensland Government response was dipping cattle in affected areas and restricting stock movements into designated tick-free zones. Cattle dips were established at the entry points between the tick-infested and tick-free zones and tick-gates located at various points along the NSW and Queensland border. The first dip was built by the Landsborough Shire Council, which was soon replaced with this concrete one. A caretaker was responsible for ‘charging’ the dip with a mix of arsenic and soda, for use on Saturdays. Eventually many farmers built their own dips and the public dip fell into disuse. The Shire relinquished its trusteeship in 1976. The Peachester Dip was restored in 2010.