At the Coalface - Memorial - QLD

"At the Coalface " Memorial is a tribute to miners killed in Blackwater Pits and the importance of the coal industry to the region.

The first person to discover the Blackwater coal deposits was Ludwig Leichhardt who travelled through the district in 1845 on his way to Port Essington in the Northern Territory. Twenty-seven kilometres from the present site of Blackwater Leichhardt observed `beds of coal indistinguishable from those on the Hunter at Newcastle. It wasn`t until the early 1960s that the town really started to develop.

In 1959-60 coking coal was found to the south of the town. A mining lease was granted in 1965 and in 1967 the first mine in the area started operating. It is claimed that in 1962 the town`s population was only 25. Twenty years later it had grown to over 8000.