Home to some 300 people, Ravenswood is not quite a ghost town, but every year its population more than doubles for entirely ghoulish reasons.

But what is most remarkable about the north Queensland gold mining town's Halloween ball, which attracts about 500 revellers every year, is that it has been running for more than a century.

Some locals say the event started in 1904, but local historian Ray Holyoak thinks it is much older than that.

"The Ravenswood Halloween ball itself has probably been going since at least the mid 1870s," he said.

"There is this very long heritage in the town — not of some crass Americanism, but from the Anglo-Celtic Welsh miners — of having this Halloween ball."

Ravenswood's 1908 Halloween festivities included a cycle race down Macrossan Street. ( Dalrymple Archives: Charters Towers Regional Council )

A photograph of the town's Halloween celebrations circa 1908 show a cycle race along Macrossan Street as part of festivities.

It is thought Welsh celebrations of Halloween probably mixed traditional harvest festivals with Christian festivals like All Souls Day.

"The Welsh and Anglo-Celtic miners, bricklayers and boilermakers brought their traditions and folklore with them," Mr Holyoak said.

Abundance of souls

Local business operator Dianne Schluter has owned Ravenswood's Imperial Hotel for 19 years and said every room in town was booked out this year.

"I have the hotel fully occupied and even in the billiard room we have got mattresses in there and out in the beer garden — we have people staying out there," she said.

The Ravenswood State School runs the Halloween ball and it is their major fundraiser for the year, boosting the coffers by $10,000.

P&C 'spooksperson' Di Hood said it was a welcome injection of funds for the tiny school, which has just 24 students.

"It helps to bridge all those [financial] gaps," Ms Hood said.

"We send the kids to camp with the money we raise, we send them on excursions … we cover the gap for teacher-aid wages and teacher wages and resources."

Di Hood says it is important to keep the historic event alive. ( ABC North Queensland: Nathalie Fernbach )

No ghost town

It might not boast the population it did back in the gold rush days, when it peaked around 5,000, but Ravenswood has experienced recent growth.

This has been attributed to the town's gold mine, which was purchased by Resolute Mining in 2004.

"A lot of people still regard this town as a ghost town — it certainly is not," said Mr Holyoak.

"We have got an operating mine here, we have a school here, I remember the place from 30 years ago and it has certainly gone ahead."

The event is the main fundraiser for the Ravenswood State School, which has 24 students. ( ABC North Queensland: Nathalie Fernbach )

In addition to the mining, historic tourism has been an area of growth with ghost tours of the town very popular.

Many believe the Halloween ball is very much part of the town's identity, and Ms Hood said there was a sense of a responsibility to keep the event going.

"It is part of Ravenswood, it is part of the history, and it is part of the township," she said.

"People know Ravenswood for the Halloween dance … so it is an important part of history to keep alive."