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495 KM N of Brisbane
(Formed after the amalgamation of the Gladstone City Council and the Calliope and Miriam Vale Shire Councils - 15 March 2008).
History – Captain James Cook was the first European to sight the Gladstone region when he came ashore on the 24 th of May 1770. After Botany Bay, this was the second time Captain Cook had set foot on land in Australia, and the first time in what is now the state of Queensland. Captain Cook and botanist Joseph Banks found a channel leading to a lagoon where they found different types of birds, one of which was the scrub turkey. They caught the turkey and had it for dinner and enjoyed the meal so much they named the inlet Bustard Bay. Matthew Flinders was the next European to sight the area naming it Port Curtis in 1802. It was then John Oxley who explored the coastline in 1823 followed by Owen Stanley in 1848 who surveyed the port. Gladstone was initially a penal colony when it was established in 1847. The town was named after former British Colonial Secretary William Ewart Gladstone who later became the Prime Minister of Great Britain. Free settlers were given permission to settle on the land in 1854 after the penal colony was closed down. At that stage there was talk about making Gladstone the future capital for the newly established colony of Queensland. A wharf was built at Gladstone in 1885 but it remained a small port until 1960 when the Moura coal fields were established. After that Gladstone experienced tremendous growth following the establishment of a major power station in 1971, the opening of the Clinton coal facility in 1980 and the building of the Boyne Aluminium Smelter in 1982.
Indigenous Tribes – GoorengGooreng, Tulua, Meerooni, Bolgwin, and Baiali people.
Industries –Resources (aluminium, sodium cyanide, chlorine, ammonium nitrate, magnesium, oil shale), beef cattle, dairy, fishing fruit production (paw paw, mangoes and lychees), fishing aluminium, energy, port for coal and grain exports.
- Boyne Island/Tannum Sands- the twin communities on the Boyne River became prominent between 1853 and 1879 when gold was discovered in the area.
- Calliope – was Queensland’s first officially proclaimed goldfield in 1863
- Many Peaks – a former gold town which once boasted a population larger than Gladstone.
- Agnes Water – named after a schooner which disappeared in 1873, Agnes Water is a major surfing spot where the 1770 Longboard Classic is held every year.
- Miriam Vale
- The Town of 1770 –it’s believed that it was the scenery which enticed Captain Cook to come ashore in 1770.
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