Emerald

Emerald is a rural town and locality in the Central Highlands Region, Queensland, Australia.

Emerald is a rural town and locality in the Central Highlands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census the locality of Emerald had a population of 14,356 people. As at June 2018, Emerald had an estimated urban population of 14,119.The town is the headquarters for the Central Highlands Regional Council.

The traditional owners include the Gayiri people who occupied the area for tens of thousands of years before European colonisation began in the nineteenth century. The Gayiri (Kairi, Khararya) language region takes in the landscape of the Central Highlands Region, including Emerald and the Nogoa River.The first European to explore the area was Ludwig Leichhardt between 1843 and 1845. The British Colony of Queensland was established in 1859.

The town takes its name from the emerald and other precious stone deposits in the area and from the pastoral run Emerald Downs, a name chosen circa 1860 by pastoralist Peter Fitzallan Macdonald.Emerald was established in 1879 as a base for the Central line from Rockhampton.Emerald Post Office opened on 5 June 1879.Emerald State School opened on 3 November 1879. A secondary department was added to the school in 1919 but that department was closed in 1921. The secondary department reopened in 1959 and operated until the separate Emerald State High School opened in 1969.St Patrick's Catholic School was established on 31 January 1902 with 80 students by the Presentation Sisters. They provided a boarding facility for girls and boys from 1906 to 1961. The last of the Presentation Sisters left the school in 1992 after which it was operated by the Rockhampton Catholic Education Office.Emerald North State School opened on 29 January 1980. A preschool was added on 20 February 1980. A special education unit opened on 23 January 1984. The preschool and special education units closed in 1999.The Emerald campus of the Capricornia School of Distance Education opened on 1 February 1993.The new Emerald Library building opened in 1994.Marist College was established in 1996 by the Marist Brothers.Denison State School opened on 28 January 1997.Emerald Christian College (also known as Emerald Educational College) opened in 2001.In 2007 the Emerald Uniting Church was enlarged by the Uniting congregation at Fernlees when that church was closed.St Brigid's Catholic Primary School was established in 2014 by the Rockhampton Catholic Education Office.In the 2016 census, Emerald had a population of 14,356 people.Ontrack School opened in February 2018.As at June 2018, Emerald had an estimated urban population of 14,119.On 17 April 2020, the Queensland Government re-drew the boundaries of localities within the Central Highlands Region by replacing the locality of The Gemfields with three new localities of Rubyvale, Sapphire Central and Anakie Siding (around the towns of Rubyvale, Sapphire, and Anakie respectively). This included adjusting the boundaries of other existing localities in the Region to accommodate these changes; Emerald gained the north-eastern corner and eastern parts of The Gemfields but losing a small area on its western boundary to the new Anakie Siding, increasing the area of the locality from 611.1 to 844.9 square kilometres (235.9 to 326.2 sq mi).

Emerald has a humid subtropical climate (Koppen: Cfa) with hot, relatively wet summers and mild, dry winters. Maximum temperatures range from 34 °C in January to 22 °C in July, while minimums range from 22 °C to 7 °C. The average annual rainfall is 641.2 mm. The wettest year on record was 1407.2 mm in 1956. Extremes of temperature have ranged from 48.6 °C to -5.6 °C, while the wettest 24 hours on record was 182.0 mm on 25 February 1975.

To the west of the town is an area known as The Gemfields, with small towns such as Sapphire and Rubyvale indicating the type of gems found there. The sapphire fields located here are the largest in the southern hemisphere.The Fairbairn Dam, a short drive to the south of the town, was opened in 1972, and holds back the waters of Lake Maraboon. The lake covers an area of up to 150 square kilometres (58 sq mi), making it one of the largest artificial lakes in the country. When full, it holds three times more water than Sydney Harbour. This extensive water supply has allowed the cotton industry to flourish in the area, and the lake is a boon for local water sports.