Definitions

Cracow

Cracow, Queensland

Cracow is a gold mining town in Queensland, Australia, in the Banana Shire Local Government Area. The town is located on the Theodore - Eidsvold road, 485 kilometres north west of the state capital, Brisbane. The town was named for a pastoral run, named in 1851 by pastoralist, John Ross, presumably for the Polish city of Kraków. At the 2006 census, Cracow and the surrounding area had a population of 123.

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.

At its gold mining peak, the town included five cafes, barber shop, billiard saloon, two butchers, a picture theatre and a soft drink factory. The closure of the mine led to Cracow becoming a ghost town with many deserted houses and shops. The local hotel is the only remaining retail business, owned by Fred Brophy, the famous bush boxing troupe manager; although off the beaten track, it attracts a lot of tourists due to its unusual array of strange artifacts adorning the ceilings & walls. In 2004, Newcrest Mining NL reestablished gold mining in the town, leading to hopes the town may recover.

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