The town of Ravenswood developed as the first major mining town in north Queensland after the discovery of gold in 1868. Pastoralists had moved into the area in the 1860s and the town was named was after one of the region's early stations. A small number of prospectors were working the field by 1869 when a further discovery of gold was made at the site of the present town. Crushing machinery was brought to the town to process the ore in 1870. This was also the year that the 'Ravenswood Miner' newspaper was first printed. The initial success of the crushing enterprise led to a further rush to the area. In 1871 there were 2,000 to 3,000 miners on the field and Ravenswood was Queensland's first large inland settlement. By 1872, however, the mine shafts had been sunk into the water table an