Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite.
The Scottish-Norwegian explorers Charles and William Archer came across the Toonooba River in 1853 and named it in-honour of Sir Charles FitzRoy; they also named many local landmarks after figures in Norse mythology, including the Berserker Range named after the Norse warrior "Baresark". The Archer brothers took-up a run near Gracemere in 1855, and more settlers arrived soon thereafter, enticed by the fertile valleys. The town of Rockhampton was proclaimed in 1858, and surveyed to a design that closely resembled the Hoddle Grid of Melbourne, and consisted of a grid of wide boulevards and laneways, which was uncommon for Queensland cities. Within a year, gold was found at Canoona, and led to the first North Australian gold rush. The Canoona gold rush led to an influx of migrants that transformed Rockhampton into the second-largest port in the state; during this period, Rockhampton became infamous for crime and violence, and was described by the then visiting English novelist, Anthony Trollope as the "City of the Three S's"—"sin, sweat, and sorrow". Subsequent gold discoveries at the Mount Morgan Mine, which was at that time one of the most-productive gold mines in the world, laid the foundations for much of the city's Victorian architecture, and recast Rockhampton into a grand northern city.
