Cracow, Queensland
| Cracow Queensland | |||||||||||||||
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 Third Avenue, Cracow, 2014 | |||||||||||||||
  Cracow | |||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 25°17′0″S 150°18′0″E / 25.28333°S 150.30000°E | ||||||||||||||
| Population | 89 (2016 census)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Established | 1931 | ||||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 4719 | ||||||||||||||
| Location |
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| LGA(s) | Shire of Banana | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Callide | ||||||||||||||
| Federal division(s) | Flynn | ||||||||||||||
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Cracow is a gold mining town and locality in Queensland, Australia, in the Banana Shire local government area.[2][3] The town is located on the Theodore – Eidsvold road, 485 kilometres (301 mi) north west of the state capital, Brisbane.
History
The town was named after a pastoral run, which was in turn named by pastoralist John Ross, in 1851, for the Polish city of Kraków, which had recently been the centre for a fight for Polish national independence.[2][4]
Gold was first discovered in Cracow in 1875 by itinerant fossickers and a further discovery of a nugget was made by an Aboriginal man in 1916. In 1931, the Golden Plateau mine was established and it operated continuously until 1976.[5]
Cracow Post Office opened on 1 October 1932.[6]
At its gold mining peak, the town included five cafes, barber shop, billiard saloon, two butchers, a picture theatre and a soft drink factory.[7] The closure of the mine led to Cracow becoming a ghost town with many deserted houses and shops.
In 2004, Newcrest Mining reestablished gold mining in the town, leading to hopes the town may recover.[7]
At the 2011 census, Cracow and the surrounding area had a population of 196.[1]
The 2019 horror-comedy film Two Heads Creek was filmed on location in Cracow.[8][9]
Facilities
The local hotel is one of the only remaining retail business, as it attracts a lot of tourists due to its unusual array of strange artifacts adorning the ceilings and walls. The other business was the General Store, which doubled as a post office and video store.
Events
Every year, Cracow hosts Fred Brophy's Boxing Tent.[10]
References
- ^ a b Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Cracow (Banana Shire) (State Suburb)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
- ^ a b "Cracow – town in Shire of Banana (entry 8648)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
- ^ "Cracow – locality in Shire of Banana (entry 49544)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
- ^ "NOMENCLATURE OF QUEENSLAND—100". The Courier-Mail. Brisbane: National Library of Australia. 24 January 1936. p. 12. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
- ^ Beattie, Ross. "Cracow". Ross Beattie's Localities pages. Archived from the original on 25 October 2009. Retrieved 2007-07-20.
- ^ Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Premier Postal Auctions. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- ^ a b Lee, Tim (23 February 2006). "Old gold town revels in resources boom". Landline. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
- ^ Burt, Jemima; Stünzner, Inga. "Two Heads Creek is the cannibal movie that could put the tiny Queensland town of Cracow back on the map". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 2 December 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
- ^ "Two Heads Creek (2019)". IMDB. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
- ^ "Simple Pleasures: Banana Shire" (PDF). The Gladstone Region. Tourism Queensland. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
External links
Media related to Cracow, Queensland at Wikimedia Commons
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