TWO GERALDTONS -

Until 1910 there was a town in Queensland that was also named Geraldton.

Having two towns with the same name apparently caused the post office no end of headaches and mail was delayed as it was sent from one side of the country to the other.

The problem lay in people simply addressing their mail to 'Geraldton' without declaring which state it was meant to be in.

With no other option, the post office simply played a game of chance and of course sometimes they sent the mail to the wrong Geraldton.

This also happened on occasion to shipping consignments and that was a whole new kettle of smelly rotten fish...

The W.A. version of Geraldton pre-dated the Queensland one so when the matter finally came to a head, the decision was made to change the Queensland Geraldton to Innisfail.

The old name must have had some resonance in Queensland because 55 years later in 1965 a bridge over the North Johnstone River in Innisfail was named, the Geraldton Bridge.

Original story sourced from : The Dusty Box

Geraldton Bridge Innisfail

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