Ravenswood

History

After the discovery of gold in 1868 through to the early 1900s, the township flourished and grew to nearly 5000 residents and boasted 48 hotels. Several historic buildings remain from this period. Due to an industrial strike in 1912 and subsequently World War I, by 1915 mining declined and the town was deserted. Silver was discovered in the area in 1870 by W. Stable. Ravenswood State School opened on 27 October 1873. Ravenswood Convent School opened in 1885 in association with St Patrick's Catholic Church. It closed in 1948. Sandy Creek Provisional School opened on 26 June 1885. In 1886 it was renamed . On 1 January 1909 it became Evlington State School. It closed in 1921. In August 2017, an early cemetery in Ravenswood was found by contractors using ground penetrating radar while working on Carpentaria Gold's Ravenswood Expansion Project. The 16 graves of 9 adults and 7 children were found behind the Ravenswood State School sports oval; the burials are thought to have occurred in the late 1860s and early 1870s. Forensic archeologists will attempt to obtain DNA from the remains. In 2019, an expansion of gold mining required the school and its heritage buildings to be relocated to a new site at 30-40 Elphinstone Street. A major expansion to the local gold mining industry was announced in 2020.

Geography

The Flinders Highway loosely bounds parts of the north-western boundary of the locality, entering from the north-east (Reid River) and exiting to the west (Broughton). The Great Northern railway line takes a similar route to the highway mostly immediately parallel to the highway to the north or the south, with the following stations: * Cardington railway station, now abandoned () * Woldston railway station() * Cardington () * Kirk () * Rochford () * Silver Valley () * Waigera () * Woldston ()

Most-observed species

• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  68
• Black Kite

  Milvus migrans (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  60
• Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

  Cacatua galerita (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  56
• Pied Butcherbird

  Cracticus nigrogularis (Gould, 1837) · Aves
  56
• Striated Pardalote

  Pardalotus striatus (Gmelin, 1789) · Aves
  45
• Willie-wagtail

  Rhipidura leucophrys (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  45
• Torresian Crow

  Corvus orru Bonaparte, 1850 · Aves
  44
• Magpie-lark

  Grallina cyanoleuca (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  42

Most recent

• M 4.1 — 2025-03-01
  0 km SE of Kelso, Australia
• M 4.3 — 2011-09-17
  44 km NNW of Collinsville, Australia
• M 4 — 2011-04-16
  45 km NNW of Collinsville, Australia
• M 5 — 2011-04-16
  Queensland, Australia