Mount Larcom is a small rural town on the North Coast railway, 35 km west of Gladstone. It is named after a mountain (631 m) 12 km to its east, which was recorded and named by Matthew Flinders in 1802 after Naval Captain Thomas Larcom.
In the early 1900s there were several grazing runs in the district, of which 'Mount Larcombe' was one. Forty years before there had been minor goldfields at Raglan and Langmorn, west of Mount Larcom, and these had brought about closer-settlement farm selections. By 1910 the North Coast railway between Gladstone and Rockhampton was open, and there was more extensive farm-selection activity, often on 80 acre allotments. Between 1913 and 1920 sugar was grown at East End, south of Mount Larcom, and the Calliope Shire history states that the Invicta sugar mill was considered for there. Cotton was also grown, but dairying became the mainstay. In 1930 the post office directory recorded over 90 farmers and graziers (mainly dairy) at Mount Larcom, and 72 dairy farmers at East End and Bracewell. There was a co-operative cheese factory (1942) at Bracewell.
Mount Larcom's formal township was proclaimed in 1915, but the school (1882) and two hotels pre-dated it. From a one-store town in 1915, Mount Larcom in 1930 had three stores, refreshment rooms, the Commercial Bank of Sydney, a newsagent and McDonnell and East, drapers (later a Brisbane department-store name). There were also two teachers at the school and three railway station staff.
Settlement to the near south of Mount Larcom was fairly intensive, and the opening of schools records the trend:
| Locality | Years |
|---|---|
| Machine Creek | 1911-1970 |
| Bracewell | 1915-2000 |
| East End | 1915-1963 (known as Willmot to 1936) |
| Langmorn | 1915-1962 |
| Hut Creek | 1921-1945 |
| Cedar Vale | 1926-1978 |
In 1964 a secondary department was added to the Mount Larcom school. Its P-10 enrolment in 2013 was 84. Mount Larcom has a show society (1919), a bowls club (1955), an Anglican church, a hall, youth centre and swimming pool. Shoppers have a general store and a rural supplies outlet, and travellers have a cafe and a caravan park.
Since the early 1910s there has been quarrying at Mount Larcom. Queensland's largest limestone mine (1964) is at East End, south of Mount Larcom, and is run by Cement Australia. It has a direct rail link (1997) to Gladstone.
The town population for Mount Larcom peaked at 395 in 1921. The populations for Mount Larcom and its district have been:
| 1921 | 1954 | 2006 | 2011 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bracewell | 171 | 216* | 462* | |
| East End | 166 | - | - | |
| Mount Larcom | 395 | 361 | 253 | 278 |
* Includes East End
Calliope Shire Council centenary 1879-1979, The Council, 1979
