History, hardship, mineral and metal on show in Clermont
A new Clermont exhibition remembers the harsh realities of life during Central Queensland’s minerals and metals rush in the mid-19th century.
Laced with murder mysteries and stories of brutal cultural clashes, Towns of Minerals and Metals is the latest instalment from Clermont Historical Centre.
This image, captured by George Cumming Pullar of Blair Athol Coal and Timber No. 1 Mine in 1910, is one of the many images that will feature with stories at the Clermont Historical Centre’s new exhibition Towns of Minerals and Metals. Image courtesy Isaac Shire Council.
The exhibition focuses on the towns of Clermont, Blair Athol and Copperfield, and the accidental discoveries of gold, coal and copper.
“Three towns, three natural resources, gold, coal and copper. Minerals and metals are what made us,” said Isaac Regional Council Mayor Anne Baker.
“This exhibition is centred on stories of the townships, how they came to be, and the juxtaposition between the affluence and the hardships.
“It incorporates stories that are centred on each resource, gold, copper and coal and subsequently the towns that are centred on them.”
The exhibition includes digitised imagery, photographys, tools, Indigenous artefacts, and other items of historic and cultural significance.
Towns of Minerals and Metals opens at the Clermont Historical Centre on Wednesday, March 6 and will be on show all year until Christmas Eve.
If you’re planning a trip, the Clermont Historcal Centre is open Wednesday to Saturday 9am to 3pm.