The Bruce Highway passes through the locality in an east-west direction skirting the edge of the town. Queensland's North Coast railway line passes in a NW-SE direction through the town centre with Howard railway station serving the town. The main streets of Howard are Steley and William.
History
The town was originally known as Steley but was renamed after William Howard, a pioneer in coal mining in the Burrum area. Abel Steley commenced coal mining in the area in 1856. After a series of setbacks, he eventually established the successful Beauford Colliery and the Queensland Collieries Company. In 1877 George Howard and his son William established the Howard Colliery. The first Burrum Post Office opened on 22 July 1878 and was renamed Howard in 1883. Burrum Provisional School opened on 18 February 1879. On 3 October 1884, it was renamed Howard State School. St Matthew's Anglican Church was opened on 3 October 1883 by BishopMatthew Hale. It was built on of land donated by the Queensland Land and Coal Company. It was made of hardwood and was with walls high, capable of holding 200 people. A new church was dedicated on 29 October 1913 by ArchbishopSt Clair Donaldson and the old church became the church hall. During World War IIthe hall was used as a field hospital. Its closure circa 2017 was approved by Bishop Jeremy Greaves. The church and hall are at 11 William Street on the south-west corner with Diamantina Drive. Howard was the seat of the Howard Division and its successor Shire of Howard. The Howard War Memorial was unveiled by Colin Rankin on 17 December 1921. Unusually for an Australian war memorial, the statue was made in Italy and depicts a soldier in Italian uniform. In May 1984, the Bruce Highway bypass was opened. Previously the highway had run through the town on Robertson Street. Neighbouring Torbanlea was also bypassed as part of same project. The Howard Library opened in 2000 and underwent a major refurbishment in 2014. In the, Howard had a population of 1,364. In the, Howard had a population of 1,359 people.
Steley Street contains the skatepark, railway station, children's playground, community centre, kindergarten, respite centre, located on the southern end. Over the railway line is the Howard Sawmill, producers of kiln dried Queensland hardwood. The post office, drapery and patchwork store, hairdresser, grocery and hardware store are on the northern end. The C.W.A hall is also located in Steley Street. The historic wooden foot bridge over the railway line in Steley Street near the C.W.A Hall was demolished in 2016 as it became too expensive to maintain. It was a popular spot for photographing trains traveling north or south. William Street consists of a milk bar, butcher, bakery, pharmacy, hotel, bottle shop, newsagency, IGA supermarket, chip shop, doctor and several real estate agents. Howard also has a golf course on the outer part of the main part of town. The Fraser Coast Regional Council operates a public library at 56 Steley Street. The Howard branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association meets at the CWA hall at 77 Steley Street.
Education
Howard State School is a government primary school for boys and girls at 108 William Street. In 2012 the school had an enrolment of 177 students with 12 teachers. In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 108 students with 8 teachers and 8 non-teaching staff. There is no secondary school in Howard; the nearest are in Childers to the north-west, Hervey Bay to the east and Maryborough to the south.
