Eidsvold () is a rural town and

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

in the

North Burnett Region The North Burnett Region is a local government area in Queensland, Australia in the northern catchment of the Burnett River. Established in 2008, it was preceded by several previous local government areas with histories extending back to the ea ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. The town is the self-proclaimed ''Beef Capital of the Burnett'' and is a hub for the regional

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

industry. In the , the locality of Eidsvold had a population of 574 people.

Geography

Eidsvold is situated on 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 ...

approximately north of the state capital,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. The highway passes through the locality from the south-east to the north-east, passing through the town's main street (Moreton Street). The

Mungar Junction to Monto branch railway The Mungar Junction to Monto railway line is a railway in Queensland, Australia. Progressively opened in eleven stages between 1889 and 1928 the line branched from the North Coast line at Mungar Junction a short distance west of Maryborou ...

passes from south-east to north-east through the locality, roughly parallel to the highway; the Eidsvold railway station serves the town. The Eidsvold–Theodore Road ( State Route 73) runs south and then west from the town.

History

Wakka Wakka Wakka Wakka, or Waka Waka, people are an Aboriginal Australian community of the state of Queensland. Name "''Wakka''" was assigned the meaning "no" by Western linguists who documented the Wakawaka language. Ethnonyms based on the duplication of ...

(Waka Waka, Wocca Wocca, Wakawaka) is an

Australian Aboriginal language The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...

spoken in the Burnett River catchment. The Wakka Wakka language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the North and South Burnett Regional Council, particularly the towns of Eidsvold,

Cherbourg Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Feb ...

Murgon Murgon is a rural town and locality in the South Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Murgon had a population of 2,378 people. Geography Murgon is in the region of Queensland known as the South Burnett, the southern ...

Kingaroy Kingaroy is a rural town and locality in the South Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. The town is situated on the junction of the D'Aguilar and the Bunya Highways, north-west of the state capital Brisbane and south west of Gympie. As a ...

Gayndah Gayndah is a town and locality in the North Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Gayndah had a population of 1,981 people. It is the administrative centre for the North Burnett Region. Geography Gayndah is on the Burnett River and ...

and

Mundubbera Mundubbera ( ) is a town and a locality in the North Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Mundubbera had a population of 1261 people. Mundubbera is the self-proclaimed "Citrus Capital of Queensland", although this is disputed by the ...

. The town is named for Eidsvold Station, a nearby property, that is named for

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet. General information E ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

(using the pre-1918 spelling) where the

Norwegian Constitution nb, Kongeriket Norges Grunnlov nn, Kongeriket Noregs Grunnlov , jurisdiction = Kingdom of Norway , date_created =10 April - 16 May 1814 , date_ratified =16 May 1814 , system =Constitutional monarchy , ...

was signed in 1814. The station was given this name by the

Archer brothers The Archer brothers were among the earliest European settlers in Queensland, Australia. They were explorers and pastoralists. Seven sons of William Archer, a Scottish timber merchant, they spent varying amounts of time in the colony of New Sou ...

, Scottish settlers who also had land holdings in Norway. The Eidsvold run was licensed to Thomas Archer in June 1848. The Town Reserve, east of the station homestead, was proclaimed 19 March 1890. The

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

opened 19 September 1887. The

Church of the Nazarene The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged in North America from the 19th-century Wesleyan-Holiness movement within Methodism. It is headquartered in Lenexa within Johnson County, Kansas. With its members co ...

established a congregation in Eidsvold in 1950 and built a timber church at 12 Moreton Street in 1953. However, the congregation declined and the church closed. The building was purchased by the local

Uniting Church in Australia The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Union ...

congregation, who had previously been meeting in the CWA rooms, and opened it as the Eidsvold Uniting Church on 23 February 1980. At the , the town of Eidsvold had a population of 459. In the , Eidsvold had a population of 630 people. In the , the locality of Eidsvold had a population of 574 people.

Heritage listings

Eidsvold has a number of

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many ...

sites, including: * Cemetery Road: Eidsvold No.1 Cemetery * Eidsvold Road:

Eidsvold Homestead Eidsvold Homestead is a heritage-listed homestead at Eidsvold Road, Eidsvold, North Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1850. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992. History Eidsvold Homestea ...

* 22 Golden Spur Street: Dr Tom Bancroft's Laboratory *Hodgkinson Street: former Eidsvold Court House *Off Mount Rose Street: Eidsvold Goldfield (Mount Rose Mine) *Off Racecourse Road: Eidsvold Racecourse

Education

Eidsvold State School is a government primary and secondary (Prep-12) school for boys and girls at 7 Hodgkinson Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 92 students with 11 teachers and 12 non-teaching staff (8 full-time equivalent).

Amenities

Eidsvold has an

R. M. Williams Reginald Murray "R.M." Williams AO CMG (24 May 19084 November 2003) was an Australian bushman and entrepreneur who rose from a swagman to a millionaire. He was born at Belalie North near Jamestown in the Mid North of South Australia, north ...

Australian bush learning centre, historical museum and complex, swimming pool, showground and bowling and golf clubs. The North Burnett Regional Council operate a public library at 36 Moreton Street. The historical museum pays tribute to the 62 soldiers from the Eidsvold area that served in the First World War. Displays include photographs, medals and the Shire of Eidsvold Honour Board. The Eidsvold branch of the

Queensland Country Women's Association The Queensland Country Women's Association (QCWA) is the Queensland chapter of the Country Women's Association in Australia. The association seeks to serve the interests of women and children in rural areas in Australia through a network of loca ...

meets at the QCWA Hall at 40 Moreton Street. Eidsvold Uniting Church is at 12 Moreton Street ().

Notable residents

* David and Thomas Archer, pioneer settlers * Thomas Lane Bancroft, medical doctor, parasitologist, cotton breeder, naturalist, scientist * Jim Burrows, Member of the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly ...

Percy Byrnes Sir Percy Thomas Byrnes (28 January 1893 – 5 March 1973) was an Australian politician. He was born at Eidsvold in Queensland to water bailiff Thomas Byrnes and Annie Louisa James. He attended the University of Melbourne, where he received ...

, Member of the

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Co ...

* David Farrell, Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly * George Farrell, Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly * George Halford, Anglican bush brother and bishop of Rockhampton * Lindsay Hartwig, (politician) *

Nev Hewitt Neville Thomas Eric "Nev" Hewitt (19 October 1920 – 19 July 2016) was an Australian politician. He was a Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. Early life Hewitt was born at Theodore, Queensland in 1920 to Herbert Deane Hewitt and ...

, Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly * William Forster McCord, Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly *

Lloyd McDermott Lloyd Clive McDermott (1 November 1939 – 6 April 2019), also known as Mullenjaiwakka, was an Australian barrister and rugby union player. He was the first Australian Aboriginal barrister and the second Aboriginal person to represent his countr ...

, Australia's first indigenous barrister and Australian rugby union player *

Maureen Watson Maureen Watson, also known as "Aunty Maureen" (9 November 1931 – 4 January 2009), was a supporter of Aboriginal rights in Australia, actor, vocalist, writer, musician and storyteller. Early life and education Watson was born on 9 November 193 ...

, Indigenous activist *

, bushman and entrepreneur

References

External links

University of Queensland: Queensland Places: Eidsvold and Eidsvold Shire
{{authority control Towns in Queensland North Burnett Region Localities in Queensland