Cracow

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. Gold was first discovered in Cracow in 1875 by itinerant fossickers and a further discovery of a nugget was made by an Aboriginal stockman, Johnny Nipps in 1916. In 1931, the Golden Plateau mine was established and it operated continuously until 1976. As of 1977, of gold had been extracted from the mine. Cracow Post Office opened on 1 October 1932. Cracow State School opened on 12 June 1933. It was found to be too small with a few months so it was relocated and extended with an annex. It closed on 12 December 1997. It was at 11-17 Third Avenue (). 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 almost a ghost town with many deserted houses and shops. Circa 2000, Fred Brophy and wife Sandi purchased the Cracow Hotel. He operated his famous boxing tent as an annual event in Cracow. In 2004, Newcrest Mining reestablished gold mining in the town, leading to hopes the town may recover. The 2019 horror-comedy film Two Heads Creek was filmed on location in Cracow.

Geography

The town is located on the Eidsvold–Theodore Road, by road north-west of the state capital, Brisbane. Cracow has the following mountains: * Mount Edwards (Mount Bannister) () * Mount Elvinia () * Mount Irving () * Mount Steel ()

Most-observed species

• Torresian Crow

  Corvus orru Bonaparte, 1850 · Aves
  9
• Red-winged Parrot

  Aprosmictus erythropterus (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  6
• Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

  Cacatua galerita (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  5
• Brown Falcon

  Falco berigora Vigors & Horsfield, 1827 · Aves
  5
• Brown Honeyeater

  Lichmera indistincta (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827) · Aves
  5
• Large Citrus Butterfly

  Papilio aegeus Donovan, 1805 · Insecta
  4
• Laughing Kookaburra

  Dacelo novaeguineae (Hermann, 1783) · Aves
  4
• Black-faced Cuckooshrike

  Coracina novaehollandiae (Gmelin, 1789) · Aves
  4