The town was formed as a result of the gold strike at The Adelaide mine, owned by George Dent and the Hack brothers, Wilton and Theodore.

[4] A town began to form, and as the population moved from nearby Nungurra to this site, many buildings were relocated.

[5] Dent and the Hack brothers sold the mine to Hans Irvine in November 1903 when they had dug as far by hand as they could.

By 1907 the population of the town had swelled to 6,000–8,000 and it had four hotels, four butchers, two banks, a staffed police station and many other stores.

Water was pumped to the top level for brewing and the beer was stored in the cellars below to keep it cool even in the hotter weather.

[13] The smallest of the hotels built in town, the National, constructed in 1909 from locally made bricks, is the only one remaining.