Kilkivan, Queensland

Kilkivan is a town and locality in the Gympie Region of Queensland, Australia. At the 2011 census, Kilkivan had a population of 691.GeographyThe town is located on the Wide Bay Highway, 224km north of the state capital, Brisbane and 54km west of Gympie.HistoryKilkivan was first inhabited by the Gubbi Gubbi tribe of the Australian Aboriginal peoples. The town was first settled by Europeans in the 1840s. Queensland’s first gold discovery was at Kilkivan in 1852 and subsequent findings escalated into a gold rush in the 1860s. The town was named for a pastoral run owned by pastoralist John Daniel Mactaggart after his father's farm name in Kintyre, Scotland.Kilkivan Post Office opened on 8 June 1868. It was known as Neureum between 1876 and 1881.The Kilkivan War Memorial commemorates those of the district who served in the wars. It was dedicated on 28 March 1996.Kilkivan State School opened in March 1876.AttractionsThe Kilkivan and District Museum and information centre in the main street features extensive displays which pay tribute to the regions early pioneers at the museum.The country town features parks and restored historical buildings. Kilkivan has antique stores, a historical walk, and a cafe and B&B housed in the town's original bank.Kilkivan is one of the few towns on the Bicentennial National Trail. A stone plaque commemorates the opening of the trail in 1988.