Download coordinates as: Emu Park is a coastal town and locality on the Capricorn Coast located 21 kilometres (13 mi) south of Yeppoon in Queensland, Australia.

[1] Home of the famous Singing Ship Monument, the Emu Park land area was explored by Lieutenant James Cook in 1770.

Emu Park is a popular tourist spot, and has won several tourism awards, and features fishing, surfing, boating, and unspoiled beaches.

[24] It was later bought by the Charlesworth family who ran it as a local grocery store "Charlie's Corner" until 2012 when it closed after the opening of the town's first supermarket the previous year.

[28] Known as "The Village Store" when it was run by the Ryan family, it sold a large variety of grocery items including local produce traded with South Sea Islanders.

[30] The popularity of the new supermarket contributed to the closure of the town's firmly established general store, Charlie's Corner, which ceased trading on 30 November 2012.

[36] The Emu Park railway station and engine sheds received considerable damage from the 1949 Central Queensland cyclone.

[36] Until a high school was built in Yeppoon, local secondary students used the train to travel to Rockhampton, departing at 6:55am each morning.

[36] The Emu Park station master lived in a residence with a detached kitchen in Hill Street.

[46] The existing Uniting Church building in Archer Street was originally built as a billiard saloon which was opened in December 1916 by Thomas Charles Lachlan.

[47] The saloon was forced to close when most of the young men who used the venue enlisted in the armed services during World War I.

[54] The Grand Hotel was destroyed in a fire on 20 November 1908 which killed district schools inspector Thomas Russell Brown.

[55] A palatial house was then built on the site and purchased by the Begg family who converted it into the Pine Beach Hotel which opened on 13 March 1926.

[58][64] The hall was destroyed in the Central Queensland cyclone on 2 March 1949 when it collapsed against the side of the hotel, which also sustained considerable damage.

[68] Several months later, William Toon managed to successfully apply for the license to run the Imperial Hotel and the business was opened soon after.

[72] A movie theatre was built on the site in 1950 which was bought by the Green family in 1969 who transformed the building into a hardware store.

[78] Shortly after opening, the post office was relocated to the Emu Park Railway Station and the building became the School of Arts.

[78] Another librarian, Mary Morris, was credited with having a dance hall built on land beside the School of Arts in 1921 but it was destroyed in a fire on 27 December 1945.

[82][78] The Emu Park Post Office was eventually relocated from the railway station to Pattison Street where the Edmistone family ran it for 65 years.

[78] It was eventually relocated again to the Emu Park Arcade in Granville Street and taken over by Kerry Kay in 1997 who ran it until his retirement in 2021.

[87][88] Some of the descendants of the Woppaburra people evicted from their homeland in the Greater and South Keppel islands live in both Emu Park and Yeppoon.

[115] In 2014, it was announced that Emu Park would be permitted to enter team into Rockhampton Senior Rugby League's A-grade, reserve and Under 20's competitions for the 2015 season.

[128] Since the first stage of the multi-faceted development opened in 2015, the memorial has become a landmark of cultural and historic significance for Central Queensland, while also serving as a tourist attraction for Emu Park itself.

[129] The memorial consists of several elements including ANZAC Court featuring a sandstone and sculpture cenotaph, a glass pane artwork, various sandstone plinths, The Gatehouse museum, battle markers, silhouettes of Australian soldiers, a boardwalk and a viewing platform.

[130][131] In 2011, local artist and Vietnam veteran Ross Coulter proposed part of the Emu Park foreshore be developed to incorporate a commemorative Centenary of ANZAC memorial.

[134] Despite his death, the RSL vowed to progress with Coulter's vision to have a Centenary of ANZAC Memorial established in Emu Park.

[132] A steering committee was formed in 2013 to move forward with the development which Livingstone Shire Council adopted in 2014, launching the project in partnership with the state government, Emu Park RSL, Bendigo Community Bank and Home Corp.[135][136][137] A symbolic groundbreaking ceremony was held in July 2014, with Coulter's widow Kate Coulter in attendance along with various dignitaries.

[139][130] Prior to the 2016 Anzac Day commemorations, more than 200 people attended the official opening of The Gatehouse - a structure that houses 26 separate information panels telling the stories of local men and women from Emu Park who served during the World War I, as well as general information about the war.

[141] In 2017, more elements to the memorial were added including groups of silhouetted figures representing Australian soldiers, and more than forty battle markers.

[152][153] The trail was jointly funded by the Lions Club of Emu Park, Livingstone Shire Council and the Australian Government.