Visit The Black Stump, Blackall, Queensland, Australia

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The town of Blackall, Queensland makes the following claim to the origin of the expression. In 1887 a group of surveyors arrived in Blackall (near the centre of Queensland, over 1,000 kilometres west of Brisbane) and established an Astro Station on this site to conduct survey readings to establish a principal meridional circuit traverse around the town. Stumps and other suitable stable platforms were often used rather than a set of legs because they gave more stability to the heavy theodolites then used to take longitudinal and latitudinal observations. This Astro station was used as part of the survey to fix the position of principal towns extending from Brisbane to Boulia via Roma, Charleville and Blackall and enabled the mapping of Queensland on a more accurate basis. It was considered at the time that country to the west of Blackall was beyond the 'black stump'. A stump of petrified wood which marks the location of the original Astro Station is found at the monument in Thistle Street near Blackall State School. This petrified stump replaces the original blackened timber stump destroyed by fire.

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