The Etheridge Shire lies at the base of Cape York Peninsula over a vast area of ancient rock. It covers 38,850 square kilometres from the Great Diving Range in the east to Gregory Range in the west. The Newcastle Range runs down the centre with the Gilbert and its tributaries, the Einasleigh, Etheridge, Percy & Robertson carrying monsoonal rainfall. Within its borders lie several goldfields, base metal fields and gem fields.

Aborigines first inhabited the area before European settlement in the 1860s when sheep and later cattle were first introduced. In 1863, Richard Daintree discovered copper at Einasleigh and in 1869 he found gold on the Etheridge River. Mining brought with it development of roads, railways and government services.

The early history of the Etheridge Shire is synonymous with famous explorers such as Leichhardt 1844-45, Gregory 1855-56, McKinlay 1862, Jardine 1864, MacDonald 1864, Walker 1866 and many others, all of whom were seeking minerals, timber and good pastoral land.

The grazing occupation of the Gulf Savannah originates from the role of the property, Carpentaria Downs, which in the mid 1800s was partially owned by sea captain Robert Towns, founder of both Burketown and Townsville. One of the earliest runs taken up was Spring Creek, which was settled by the Tom Collins family. The main pastoral settlements appeared in the eastern part of the Shire, where large individual areas were taken up. In many cases these settlements remain some of the largest stations in the Shire today.

Relics of the famous gold rush days can still be found throughout the district and the settlements of Mount Surprise, Einasleigh, and Forsayth, together with Georgetown, remain a fossickers dream. The Etheridge goldfield, the "poor mans" goldfield, has never been worked out. Modern day prospectors armed with metal detectors still search for specimens such as coloured topaz, agates, sapphires, smoky quartz and other precious stones as well as nuggets of gold.

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