Emerald (Queensland) 5.94

Emerald is a town in the Central Highlands Region, Queensland, Australia. At June 2015 Emerald had an estimated urban population of 15,225. The town is the business centre for the Central Highlands Regional Council.Emerald lies on the Nogoa River, a tributary of the Fitzroy River. The town lies almost 300km from the coast and approximately 270km west of the city of Rockhampton on the junction of the Capricorn and Gregory highways. The Tropic of Capricorn intersects the Gregory Highway just north of Emerald.HistoryThe area was originally owned by Aboriginal groups for tens of thousands of years before European colonisation in the nineteenth century.The first European to explore the area was Ludwig Leichhardt between 1843 and 1845. The British Colony of Queensland was established in 1859. Emerald was established in 1879 as a base for the Central line from Rockhampton. Emerald Post Office opened on 5 June 1879.Fairbairn Dam overflowed for the first time in 17 years on 19 January 2008. Major flooding in Emerald occurred a few days after as the Nogoa River broke its banks. The floods resulted in 1,000 houses being affected and more than 2,500 people being evacuated. The 2008 floods did not reach the heights of flooding in previous years.