Charters Towers · Goldtower Central
Steps of History
The Steps of History invite you to walk through Charters Towers’ remarkable past, one year at a time.
Opening to the public · Late 2026A timeline you can walk
History, one step at a time
The Steps of History is taking shape now — a landscaped walkway lined with year-by-year cast-brass markers, each one telling a chapter of the Charters Towers story. When it opens to the public at the end of 2026, you’ll stroll the timeline from the first strike of gold in 1872 to the present day, pausing at The World globe and the monuments that celebrate the people and moments that shaped the region.
The first plaque · 1872
From a gold strike to a grand city
Follow the path through the decades that built Charters Towers.
-
1872
Gold is struck
Three small stores and a butcher shop form the township of Charters Towers along Mosman Street.
-
1888
“The World”
A boom town of some 30,000 — so rich and cosmopolitan that locals called it, simply, “The World.”
-
1900s
The golden years
Grand banks, a stock exchange and fine mansions rise from the wealth of the goldfield.
-
Today
Cast in brass
The whole story is set into the path — plaque by plaque — at the heart of Goldtower Central.
-
Late 2026
Open to the public
The Steps of History open — a living timeline you can walk, end to end.
The centrepiece
Past The World
The Steps lead to the mirror-polished globe that gives the precinct its name — its plinth telling the story of Our Town and Our World, from the goldfields to the wider stage.