The Gladstone History Group is a sub-committee of the Gladstone Community Development & Tourism Association (GCD&TA) and is a member of the Northern Areas Council History Group of eleven history groups which meets at all towns on a rotational basis every six months.
The Gladstone History Group has set up a comprehensive display regarding the town’s heritage through articles, photos and memorabilia at the Southern Flinders Discovery Centre in the main street of Gladstone. The group plans to continue showcasing their collection in this way, especially school, cemetery and family records, as it gives easy access to the public.
The display includes the Booyoolee Panels, commissioned for the Gladstone Farmcog Festival in 2002.
Their collection centres around:
- Family histories in written and photographic form.
- Photographic panels.
- Sporting club records and photographs: Current and defunct.
- Gladstone History/Railways/Schools/Community publications ready for sale.
- Returned Service-Personnel artifacts and histories.
Projects on the go include:
- Cataloguing their collection stored in the fire-proof former projection room of the Gladstone Town Hall.
- Recording every gravesite within (and without) of the cemetery
- Working with the GCD&TA to repair and adapt the 1874 school building in Gladstone (the first school C.J.Dennis attended), and the first Gladstone High School built in 1907 to become a secure and more expansive set-up.