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Introducing Charters Towers
The gold rush is over, but the locals getting around in ‘New York, London, Charters Towers, Paris’ T-shirts don’t seem to know it. Indeed, Charters Towers thrives in isolation 130km inland from Townsville. Its main industries are cattle and mining, with modern processes renewing a gold revival since the 1980s.
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Its living history can be seen in its imposing public buildings, and friendly locals are keen to regale you with tales of the past. During the 19th century locals used to have to pinch themselves at their new-found wealth; some of that optimism still lives on as strapping young men in cowboy boots court local girls in halter tops at the town’s socials.
The gleam of gold was first spotted in 1871 in a creek bed at the foot of Towers Hill by an Aboriginal boy, Jupiter Mosman. Within a few years the surrounding area was peppered with diggings and a large town had grown. In its heyday, around the end of the 19th century, Charters Towers was known as ‘the World’ for its wealth and diversity. It had almost 100 mines, a population of 30, 000, a stock exchange and 25 pubs.
Last updated: Mar 2, 2009
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