http://www.smh.com.au/news/Queensland/Childers/2005/02/17/1108500202242.html
Well preserved historic town on the main road between Brisbane and Bundaberg.
Located 325 km north of Brisbane, 60 km north of Maryborough, 52 km south of Bundaberg and 108 m above sea level, Childers is a town which was created and sustained by the sugar cane which grew around it until there were 8 years of drought. The local council, determined to capitalise on the tourist traffic which drove through town without stopping, then embarked on a campaign which has resulted in the title 'Historic Childers - The National Trust Town' and now offers people speeding north to the resorts an ideal place to stop and explore a little of the region's interesting past.
Given the age of the unusual Brazilian Leopard Trees which line the main street it is surprising that people ever drove through the town without so much as a pause of curiosity.
The Childers area was first explored by Europeans in the 1850s. The name of the town of Childers comes either from the village of Childre in Oxfordshire (there are other Oxfordshire names in the area including Didcot, Abingdon and the Isis River) or from the Rt Hon Hugh Childers, Auditor-General of Victoria.
The area grew slowly as teamsters stopped in the town and the land around was taken up by pastoralists eager to raise cattle on the fertile soil. In 1902 the town was virtually wiped out by a fire which demolished nearly all the buildings on one side of the main street. Those that survived are now the interesting and important buildings in the town.
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