Eidsvold–Theodore Road is a continuous road route in the North Burnett and

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regions of

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, Australia. The entire route is signed as State Route 73. It is a state-controlled district road (number 454) rated as a local road of regional significance.

Route description

The road commences as Moreton Street at an intersection with the

Burnett Highway The Burnett Highway is an inland rural highway located in Queensland, Australia. The highway runs between its junction with the Bruce Highway at Gracemere, just south of Rockhampton, and Nanango. Its length is approximately 542 kilometres. The ...

(A3) in Eidsvold. It runs south-east, south-west and north-west, skirting the base of Mount Rose (a former gold mining site) before crossing the

Burnett River The Burnett River is a river located in the Wide Bay–Burnett and Central Queensland regions of Queensland, Australia. Course and features The Burnett River rises in the Burnett Range, part of the Great Dividing Range, close to Mount Gaeta a ...

to the west of Eidsvold. On the eastern bank of the river is Tolderodden Conservation Park, formerly part of the Eidsvold pastoral run. The road continues south-west and north-west through farming country and some forest until it reaches the locality of . It continues to the north-west through Calrossie, Borania and Ballymore State Forests, where it passes the exit to Defence Road, before entering . It passes through Cracow as Third Avenue and Tenth Avenue before turning north-north-west through to , passing Theodore Airport. It passes through Theodore as Railway Parade, Fifth Avenue, and The Boulevard before ending at an intersection with the

Leichhardt Highway The Leichhardt Highway is a major transport route in Queensland, Australia. It is a continuation northward from Goondiwindi of the Newell Highway, via a section of the Cunningham Highway. It runs northward from Goondiwindi for more than 600 ki ...

(A5). The road from Cracow to Theodore follows the eastern side of the Dawson River valley through mostly irrigated farming land.

Road condition

The road is fully sealed and is suitable for caravans and other large vehicles. It has a section of about with an incline greater than 5%. A $17 million upgrade project was undertaken in 2012 on parts of a section of the road in the North Burnett Region. This included replacing the steel deck of the Burnett River bridge.

History

The Eidsvold pastoral run was licensed to

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in 1848, and the town reserve was proclaimed in 1890. Gold was discovered in the 1850s but not in significant quantities until 1886, when it grew quickly as a mining town. By the late 1880s it had a population of almost 2,000. The Cracow pastoral run was established in 1851. Gold was discovered in 1875, but did not lead to a major gold rush. Pastoral leases were established in the Theodore area, including one named Woolthorpe, from 1850. In 1864 a town named Woolthorpe was surveyed but never developed. From 1893 Woolthorpe Station expanded through land acquisitions along the Dawson River. A pastoral run was also established at Camboon, to the south-east of Theodore. Primitive roads were cut between the various pastoral runs and their supporting towns, thus in time connecting Cracow to east and west. In the 1920s a total of 475 small farms were offered for sale along the Dawson River near the town of Castle Creek, which was renamed Theodore in 1926. By this time parts of many of the pastoral runs had been given over to closer settlement. These factors contributed to the need for a better road from Eidsvold to Theodore.

Inland defence road

An inland defence road from to was built during World War II. Much of it is now either abandoned or incorporated in modern roads. A segment of the original road still exists as a public road between Cracow and Theodore. It includes four bridges of historical significance, and can be accessed from the Eidsvold–Theodore Road about to the east of Cracow.

Major intersections

All distances are from Google Maps.

References