Emu Park
Located on Darumbal country on the Capricorn Coast in Livingstone Shire, 16 kilometres south-southeast of Yeppoon and 34 kilometres east-northeast of Rockhampton, Emu Park overlooks Keppel Bay, which James Cook named after Admiral Augustus Keppel in May 1770.
European settlement in the area began in the 1860s when John Jardine established a cattle grazing property south of Zilzie—an anagram of Lizzie, his eldest daughter's name. Several Rockhampton families built holiday houses on the hills overlooking Fisherman's Beach and Pine Beach after members of a fishing expedition noted the locality's potential in the mid-1860s. Despite objections from local grazier Robert Ross, a village reserve and seaside watering place were gazetted in 1869. In November 1883, Hewittville Post Office replaced a receiving office that dated back to 1876 and was renamed Emu Park — possibly derived from Darumbal oopal (place of emus) — in 1890.
A railway line to North Rockhampton opened in 1888, was extended to Yeppoon in 1910. Commuter trains to Rockhampton commenced service in 1910, and the line continued operations until 1964.
Sources:
Aussie Towns: Emu Park, Queensland: https://www.aussietowns.com.au/town/emu-park-qld
Queensland Place Names: Emu Park (https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/land/title/place-names/queensland-place-names-search#/search=Emu_Park&types=0&place=Emu_Park11720) (requires search for Emu Park)
Queensland Places: Emu Park: https://queenslandplaces.com.au/emu-park
Wikipedia: Emu Park, Queensland: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_Park,_Queensland
