Charters Towers

Charters Towers is a city in the Australian state of Queensland and is located inland about 130 km south-west of Townsville at an altitude of about 310 m.

Charters Towers was created as a result of the Gold Rush, the late 19th century and was at times with up to 27,000 inhabitants, the second largest city in Queensland to Brisbane. She was also the only non- capital city in Australia with its own stock exchange. Until the First World War, more than 200 tonnes of gold were recovered and the gold fields of Charters Towers were thus the most plentiful throughout Australia. Then you had to penetrate deeper and the gold mining was unprofitable. It is estimated that there is still time to find at least the amount of already mined gold in the mines.

The population of Charters Towers has now fallen to about 8000. Nevertheless, the place is worth seeing, as the buildings and the architecture still bear witness to the former wealth of the city and its inhabitants.