EMERALD
Emerald is situated on the intersection of the Capricorn Highway and the Gregory Highway section of the Great Inland Way. It looks relatively new for a country town that was established in 1879 as a base for the building of the western railway.
This is because of devastating fires in 1936, 1940,1954 and 1968. These disastrous events combined with the much more welcome construction of the Fairbairn Dam and the Emerald Irrigation Scheme in 1972, and the beginning of large scale Bowen Basin coal mining in 1977, shaped the town into what you see today.
Built in 1900 and restored in 1986, the National Trust listed Railway Station with its wrought iron lacework and pillared portico is without doubt Emerald's most photographed attraction. At the Emerald Town Hall view a fossilised tree aged 250 million years. Visit the world's biggest Van Gogh sunflower painting on an easel in Morton Park - at the western end of Clermont Street, near the Visitor Information Centre - and walk the 100 metre heritage pathway.
Drive north to get a view of the irrigation area activities; east to see the Agricultural College or animal sanctuary and cotton farm; south to Gindie to see the first tractor on the Central Highlands or visit a large grain and beef property; or west to take a look at the horticultural farms - including the 2PH Farm citrus orchard which is one of the largest in the Southern Hemisphere - on your way to Lake Maraboon and the Fairbairn Dam.
But if you want to really immerse yourself in the local Emerald and Central Highlands culture, that can include a tour of the School of Distance Education and a native flower farm, then a personalised conducted tour departing from the Emerald Railway Station is the way to go.
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