Community - History of Donald
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The town is named after William Donald, a Scottish pastoralist who was the first settler in the area in 1844.
At the 2011 census, Donald had a population of 1,693.
The earliest township was known as Richardson Bridge until surveyed as Donald in 1866.
The Donald Post Office opened on 1 August 1870 replacing that of nearby Mount Jeffcott which had operated since 1860.
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The town grew steadily boosted by the closer settlement of the surrounding countryside and the arrival of the railway in 1882.
Donald has been a victim of several floods in recent years, with the most severe in January 2011. Major floods also occurred in August 1909, 1918, 1956, 1975 and 1992.
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Contrarily, the area suffered a major drought period in the 1990s and 2000s, significantly impacting the community which primarily relies on crop farming to survive.