They are widely recognised symbols of the peanut growing and processing industry in Queensland that developed as a commercial enterprise in the South Burnett centred upon Kingaroy and which has been managed from this town since the 1920s.

After the arrival of the railway Kingaroy quickly developed as a service centre with the establishment of commercial premises such as shops and hotels.

Small acreages were grown by several farmers in the South Burnett from about 1901 and these peanuts were sold to confectioners and shops in Brisbane, Maryborough and Rockhampton.

The company purchased almost the entire 1921-1922 crop in the South Burnett and may have created the demand which made the establishment and growth of the industry possible.

This increase in peanut growing coincided with a fall in the price received by farmers for maize, which had been their primary cash crop.

A meeting of growers held at Memerambi decided to approach the Minister for Agriculture and Stock to obtain approval for the formation of a Peanut Board under the Primary Products Pools Act 1922.

The other areas in Queensland producing peanuts were Moreton, Port Curtis, Edgecombe, Rockingham, Cape York Peninsula and the Darling Downs/Maranoa divisions.

Silos were necessary to hold the nuts in dry storage, treat them if affected by damp, protect them from pests and allow controlled distribution so that the market was not flooded one year and short the next.

Realising that more permanent arrangements were required it was decided to build a block of silos, complete with treatment plant and machinery.

Between September 1926 and August 1928 land fronting Haly Street and the railway line to the south was acquired as a site for operations.

Located near the commercial centre of the town and adjacent to the railway line, the future headquarters of the Peanut Board was well sited for loading and unloading of produce.

1) was constructed in 1928 adjacent to the Kingaroy/Kilkivan rail line formation, together with a long shed which housed machinery for cleaning, grading and shelling peanuts.

Lobbying of the State and Commonwealth governments by the Board resulted in embargoes against the importation of peanuts and supportive legislation.

They were built by Kell & Rigby, which also constructed the Kingaroy Shire Council Chambers, located opposite, at the same time.

[1][2] The Kingaroy Peanut Silos were officially opened on 1 December 1938 by the Minister for Agriculture and Stock, Frank Bulcock.

[3] Conducting both of these ceremonies on the same day symbolically expressed the Shire's confidence and its progress since formation, while acknowledging its dependence on agriculture to deliver its future prosperity.

This was accepted by the Australian Government and from 1943 until the end of the war the crop was sold by the Board under the control of the National Security Regulations.

It was built on lot 138 (3 roods 10 perches (3,300 m2)), which had been created from a road closure, the Deed of Grant for which was issued to the Queensland Peanut Growers' Cooperative Association Ltd after it was acquired for £216/4/0 8p on 6 August 1928.

[1] Since then, the PCA has remained the leading supplier of peanuts in Australia, engaged in researching, growing, storing, processing, value-adding and marketing the product.

Peanuts are dropped in from a conveyor belt at the gallery level and released from the hoppered base at the ground floor.

[1] The bins in each silo are crowned by a steel-and timber-framed shed clad with metal sheeting and are distinguished by high narrow gabled ridge roofs.

Each shed accommodates the gallery space which houses the conveyor belt and associated plant that drops the nuts into the storage bins.

A timber-floored platform runs along each side of the conveyor and the space is lit by steel-framed windows to the east, west and north.

The towers accommodate flights of steel and concrete stairs and the elevator plant associated with hoisting the peanuts from the boot pit to the gallery conveyor belts.

[1] Many original steel-framed 12-light windows with a fixed louvre vent and a pivoting central section have been retained, notably in the working house and the elevator towers.

Standing tall above the Kingaroy skyline these 42 metres (138 ft) high silos dominate the townscape and the landscape of the South Burnett as a landmark visible from great distances.

Lit by the rising and setting sun they glow dramatically at dawn and dusk transforming their appearance from functional structure to monumental sculpture.

[1] Their recognition as an aesthetic landmark for the region is evidenced by the use of artistic images of the silos for tourism promotional purposes.

[1] The Kingaroy Peanut Silos are important for their symbolic quality and aesthetic contribution to the South Burnett landscape.