Esk, Queensland 4.86

Esk is a town and locality in the Somerset Region in South East Queensland, Australia. In the 2011 census, Esk had a population of 1,755 people.GeographyEsk is approximately 64km northwest of Ipswich on the Brisbane Valley Highway. It was named after the River Esk in Scotland and England. It is the administrative centre of the Somerset Region.The town of Esk is contained in the Queensland electoral district of Nanango.HistoryThe land around Esk was first explored by Captain Patrick Logan in 1830. The town was established to service the short-lived copper mines of Eskdale and Cressbrook Creek. Settlers moved into the region during the 1840s.Mount Esk Post Office opened on 1 February 1874 (a receiving office had been open from 1873) and was renamed Esk by February 1881.Mount Esk State School was opened on 1 November 1875 and was renamed Esk State School in 1887.In 1886, the Brisbane Valley railway line reached Esk from Lowood. Several sawmills were built and in 1904 a butter factory opened. The timber industry declined in the 1920s.