Peak Downs
Initially, the name of a pastoral station, Peak Downs, was subsequently adopted in the 1860s and 1870s as the name of a geographic area on Yambina, Barna, Wangan and Gabalbara Country around Clermont in Queensland's Central Highlands. Much of the area fell within the boundaries of the former Shire of Peak Downs, which was amalgamated with neighbouring Bauhinia, Duaringa and Emerald Shires to form the Central Highlands Region.
The name stems from numerous distinct basalt-capped sandstone peaks, many of which were named for and by members of Ludwig Leichhardt's expedition, which passed through the area in January 1845. However, much of the region's distinctive topography has been distorted by numerous open-cut coal mines, including the BHP Mitsubishi Alliance's Peak Downs Mine.
The area had been worked for copper and gold extraction since the 1860s and 1870s, when St. Lawrence served as the field's port.
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