Aramac serves as the centre point for local industries such as sheep and cattle. It is located 66 kilometres north of Barcaldine and the area was first explored by Europeans and settled in the 1850s.
The town was named after Robert Ramsay MacKenzie who, at the time, was the part-lessee of 52 runs, totalling 1,536 square miles. Mackenzie was Queensland's first treasurer and future premier.
William Landsborough explored the area in 1859 and called a nearby watercourse Aramac Creek. In a letter he explained: 'The Aramac, as many wrong reasons for the name have been given, I may say here I named, in honour of the late Sir R.R. Mackenzie, 'Ar-Ar-Mac, who was so well known in Queensland, and who had acted in a very friendly way to me.'
The area was settled in the 1860s and the town, which seems to have had the alternative name of 'Marathon' for a short time, acquired the essential services such as Hotel, grocery and drapery. The town was surveyed in 1875 but by that time the wide streets, uncharacteristically wide for such a small settlement, were established and the surveyor simply confirmed the strangely disproportionate design.
In 1909 Aramac Shire Council, still isolated from the surrounding area, borrowed 66,500 pounds and built a tramway connecting the town to the main railway line at Barcaldine. The tramway operated until 1975 and is now on display in the town.
Henry ‘Harry’ Redford commenced his daring cattle duffing feat on a property called Bowen Downs. You can take part in the recreation of this historically significant cattle stealing case by joining the Harry Redford Cattle Drive held through May/June annually.
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