Nanango, Queensland

A small country town servicing a prosperous agricultural district that is also the administrative centre for the surrounding shire.
Location: 210 km north-west of Brisbane via the Bruce and D'Aguilar Highways; 345 m above sea-level.
Origin of name: derived from the name of a pastoral run, used by WE Oliver, in 1842. Taken from the Waka language, Nanango is reportedly the name of the lagoon near the run's homestead, two kilometres west of the present town. It was also used by Europeans to identify a clan leader. Nanango Township was originally called Goodes Inn.
Brief history: The area around Nanango was first settled within months of the opening of Queensland to free settlement in 1842 with the establishment of three huge sheep runs - Taromeo, Nanango and Tarong. In 1850, Simon Scott who ran Taromeo, built a red cedar dwelling, part of which still stands today. The township of Nanango was established in 1848 when Jacob Goode opened an inn on the banks of Barker's Creek. Developed around Goode's Inn, Nanango is Queensland's fourth-oldest town. It enjoyed brisk trade during the Gympie goldrush, servicing the travellers to and from Brisbane to the diggings. Before gold was found at Gympie, Nanango had a small goldrush of its own when small amounts of alluvial gold were found near the town, attracting some 700 miners, many of whom were Chinese.
Around the turn of the 20th century, much of the pastoral lands were resumed, subdivided and sold for more intensive agriculture which came to include beef and pork production, dairying and milk processing, timber, small crops, grapes and olives.
Natural features: The Palms National Park); Coomba Falls
Built features: townships of Blackbutt (36 km south), Yarraman (21 km south, it calls itself 'The Hoop Pine Centre of Queensland' and Maidenwell (28 km from Nanango); Tarong Power Station
Heritage features: Nobby's Corner' (1914); Fitzroy Hotel (1913); Ringsfield Historic House (1908); Berlin's Gem and Historical Museum (11 km south)