[3][4] It was established in the 1920s as part of Queensland Premier Ted Theodore's ambitious Dawson River Irrigation Scheme which failed to eventuate.

[1] Theodore is situated on the Dawson River just off the Leichhardt Highway 565 kilometres (351 mi) north-west of the state capital, Brisbane.

Theodore has a humid subtropical climates (Köppen: Cfa), with hot, wet summers and mild, dry winters with cool nights.

[7] Gangalu (Gangulu, Kangulu, Kanolu, Kaangooloo, Khangulu) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken on Gangula country.

The Gangula language region includes the towns of Clermont and Springsure extending south towards the Dawson River.

Herbertson reported that Woolthorpe was "a splendid property, consisting of downs and black soil flats" used for sheep grazing.

Herbertson also reported favourably on an experiment to raise lucerne by irrigating 70–80 acres (28–32 ha) of cleared land beside the Dawson River.

Herbertson believed that, with irrigation, the district would be capable of supporting a large population, provided there was cheap, easy and quick transport to the coast.

[15] The idea of a major irrigation scheme involving the Dawson River continued to be considered by the Queensland Parliament over a number of years.

[16][17][18] However, it was not until February 1920, that the Premier of Queensland Ted Theodore announced his support for a Dawson River irrigation scheme.

It was estimated that there would be about 5000 farms and that, together with those living in the towns providing services to the farmers, the irrigation scheme would support about 50,000 people.

[32] However, Ted Theodore never obtained funding for the Nathan Dam and in 1925 he resigned as Queensland Premier in order to move into federal parliament.

Without the water needed for irrigation, many of the small farm blocks around Theodore became economically unviable and many sold at a loss.

[33][34][35][36] In 2006, the Queensland Government announced that the Nathan Dam was the preferred short-to-medium-term water supply solution for the district to meet the needs of the growing mining activity in the Surat Basin but indicated that only existing agricultural users would be supplied, suggesting there is no plan to revive the Dawson River Irrigation Scheme more generally.

[38] In 2009, environmental impact studies discovered that half of the already endangered Boggomoss snail (Adclarkia dawsonensis) population would be within the inundation area of the dam.

[1] The town's economy is closely linked to coal mining – Theodore is at the southern end of Queensland's coal-rich Bowen Basin.

The community has raised funds to install solar-powered lighting so the runway can be used for medical emergency flights at night.