Howard, Queensland

Howard is a small town and rural locality in the Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It is located 284 km north of Brisbane and 37 km west of Hervey Bay. In the 2011 census, Howard had a population of 1,364 people.

Geography
The Bruce Highway passes through the locality in a east-west direction skirting the edge of the town. Queensland's main north-south railway line passes in a NW-SE direction through the town centre. The main streets of Howard are Steley and William.

History
The first Burrum Post Office opened on 22 July 1878 and was renamed Howard in 1883.

Burrum Provisional School opened on 18 February 1879. On 3 October 1884, it was renamed Howard State School.

Howard was the seat of the Howard Division (1900-1903) and its successor Shire of Howard (1903-1917).

The Howard War Memorial was unveiled by Colin Rankin on 17 December 1921. Unusually for an Australian war memorial, the statue was made in Italy and depicts a soldier in Italian uniform.

Heritage listings
Howard has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
 * William Street: Howard War Memorial
 * 23 William Street: Brooklyn House

Amenities
Steley Street contains the Skatepark, Railway Station, Children's playground, Community Centre, Kindergarten, Respite Centre, located on the southern end. The Post office, Drapery and Patchwork Store, Hairdresser, Grocery and Hardware Store are on the northern end. The C.W.A hall is also located in Steley Street. The historic wooden foot bridge over the railway line can be accessed from Steley Street near the C.W.A Hall. It is a popular spot for photographing trains traveling north or south. William Street consists of a Milk Bar, Butcher, Bakery, Pharmacy, Pub, Bottle Shop, Newsagency, IGA Supermarket, Chip shop, Doctor and several Real Estate Agents. Howard also has a golf course on the outer part of the main part of town. (The Bowls Club is located at Torbanlea)

Education
Howard State School is a government primary (P-7) school at 108 William Street (-25.32286°N, 152.55744°W). In 2012. the school had an enrolment of 177 students with 12 teachers (11.3 full-time equivalent). There is no secondary school in Howard; the nearest are in Childers to the north-west, Hervey Bay to the east and Maryborough to the south.

Notable residents

 * Andrew Fisher, first Federal Member for the electorate of Wide Bay and first Labour Prime Minister of Australia. The house he built and lived in still stands.
 * Annabelle Rankin, the first woman from Queensland to sit in the Parliament of Australia, the first woman to have a federal portfolio and the first woman to be appointed head of a foreign mission
 * Colin Rankin, chairman of the Shire of Howard, member for Burrum in the Queensland Legislative Assembly