Sitting gracefully on the banks of the Condamine River, historic Warwick \u2013 known for its roses and rodeo \u2013 features some of the state\u2019s finest original sandstone buildings. From here it\u2019s an easy drive to explore the friendly villages and small towns of the Southern Downs.<\/p>
Settled over 150 years ago, the town is rich in \u201cHeritage and Historic Building Trails\u201d featuring a number of well-preserved churches, cottages, railway stations, schools and monuments \u2013 each with its own story of old. One of the most interesting stories is that of Thomas Byrnes whose imposing statue stands in the main street \u2013 the talented son of poor Irish immigrants, he rose to be Queensland Premier in 1898 and after just five months in office, tragically died of pneumonia.<\/p>
Two must-see attractions along the trail are the Warwick and District Historical Museum \u2013 the best place in town to discover life as it was from the 1890s to the 1950s, and Abbey of the Roses \u2013 formerly Our Lady of Assumption Convent, built for the Sisters of Mercy. For almost 100 years it formed the \u201cheart\u201d of the extensive Catholic community in Warwick; in its new life it is a popular boutique guest house and function centre.<\/p>
In testament to its reputation as the \u201cRose City\u201d, rose plots are prolifically planted throughout Warwick\u2019s Central Business District and can be seen at the Visitor Information Centre, the Warwick Art Gallery, the Warwick and District Historical Society Museum and in various plots on the northern approach to the city. <\/p>
Known as the \u201cHorsepower Capital of Australia\u201d, Warwick is home to the Warwick Rodeo \u2013 Australia\u2019s most famous, held each October, as well as Morgan Park Raceway \u2013 host to world-class motor sport events.<\/p>
From a dirt track in 1965, Morgan Park Raceway has evolved to become one of Queensland\u2019s premier motorsport venues incorporating a drag-racing track that attracts Australia\u2019s top competitors. Morgan Park\u2019s first-rate equestrian facilities played host to the Polocrosse World Cup in 2003, 2007 and will again in 2019.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":168985,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"ausg_content_type_category":[9],"ausg_place_type_category":[5104,5105],"ausg_location_tag":[5535],"ausg_urban_area_tag":[],"ausg_area_tag":[5187],"ausg_region_tag":[],"ausg_postcode_tag":[5363],"ausg_att_cat_place":[8853,8859,8879,8855,8856,8877,8880,8864,8860,8874,8882,8861,8886,8878,8869,8854,8858],"ausg_data_source_category":[4099,3],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.australias.guide\/qld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ausg_location\/147652"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.australias.guide\/qld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ausg_location"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.australias.guide\/qld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/ausg_location"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.australias.guide\/qld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ausg_location\/147652\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.australias.guide\/qld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.australias.guide\/qld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"ausg_content_type_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.australias.guide\/qld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ausg_content_type_category?post=147652"},{"taxonomy":"ausg_place_type_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.australias.guide\/qld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ausg_place_type_category?post=147652"},{"taxonomy":"ausg_location_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.australias.guide\/qld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ausg_location_tag?post=147652"},{"taxonomy":"ausg_urban_area_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.australias.guide\/qld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ausg_urban_area_tag?post=147652"},{"taxonomy":"ausg_area_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.australias.guide\/qld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ausg_area_tag?post=147652"},{"taxonomy":"ausg_region_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.australias.guide\/qld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ausg_region_tag?post=147652"},{"taxonomy":"ausg_postcode_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.australias.guide\/qld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ausg_postcode_tag?post=147652"},{"taxonomy":"ausg_att_cat_place","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.australias.guide\/qld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ausg_att_cat_place?post=147652"},{"taxonomy":"ausg_data_source_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.australias.guide\/qld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ausg_data_source_category?post=147652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}