The town of Atherton, QLD, is located on the Kennedy Highway, 80 km southwest of Cairns.
Sitting on the side of Halloran's Hill, an extinct volcano, Atherton is a
country town surrounded by lush rainforests, and pristine National Parks, on the Atherton Tableland. Lake Eacham and Lake Barrine are the larger crater lakes in the district.
The Mbabaram People (Bar Burrum)
The Atherton tablelands are part of the traditional territory of the Mbarabam people, one of six tribes speaking the Djirrbalngan language in the area.
Norman Tindale and Joseph Birdsell carried out fieldwork in 1938-1939 on the Atherton Tablelands and noted the presence of a "people of relatively small stature and crisp curly hair". The researchers also claimed that these clans "inhabit an area of dense rain jungle and highland plateau in the wettest area of North Queensland". It is likely that the shorter stature was due to differences in nutrition in this group, with nuts,
tubers and fruits being consumed more than proteins.
Interestingly, Carl Lumholtz, a Norwegian explorer and ethnographer, in his 1889 book, claimed Aboriginal people of the upper Herbert River were mostly "... slender and tolerably well built, though on the average small. Their height varied greatly".
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| An Aboriginal man standing in front of a Kapok rainforest tree. He has body cicatrices [scarring] on his stomach, is wearing kangaroo bone nose ornament, shell pendant, a white cockatoo feathered headdress (including Jil-nga natilus shell forehead band) and has a leaf placed as a pubic covering. State Library of Queensland |
The Mbabaram language appeared to differ
from other surrounding Aboriginal languages. Linguist, R.M.W Dixon found that "all the languages but Mbabaram fit perfectly well into the pattern of Australian linguistics" and even Mbabaram was only "a little eccentric phonetically and phonologically".
Yidiny is also a traditional language within areas of the Cairns Region and Tablelands Region. Tindale claimed that the Djabugay language was spoken over a large area from Cairns to Port Douglas and west towards Mareeba. In the south
it extended almost to Atherton.
Clan membership was based on patrilineal descent groups, whereby children inherited the totems of their fathers.
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| Group of men and boys at Atherton Tableland, ca. 1895. This photograph is of Aboriginal men and boys in their traditional body paint, with shields, boomerang, wooden swords and spears. cicatrices can be seen on some men. The elderly man on the left has a kangaroo bone nose piercing, a pearl shell pendant and headband. The young man laying in front of the group has a forehead band of Nautilus shell and is holding a nulla nulla [club/ sword]. The shield and body design are unique to this Atherton Tableland area. State Library of Queensland |
Marriages were generally polygamous (a husband having two or more wives), and arranged by parents and elders according to customary law.
Some
distinctive aspects of Aborignal clans of the rainforest region south of Cairns: cannibalism, mummification prior to cremation, and the holding of fighting corroborees to settle disputes. Lumholtz (
1.) observed that; "Mortal wounds are extremely rare" and the combatant knows "that his opponent, through fear of his relatives, will not carry the conflict to the extreme......if necessary they will interfere and prevent his getting wounded".
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| Man and child from the Atherton Tablelands, ca. 1895. This photograph is of an Aboriginal man, wearing only a belt, carrying a child on his shoulder and a woven bag on his back. |
Tindale and Birdsell also note that Rainforest people would carry about the skull and jawbones of the dead
for long periods before disposal by burning. And they used beaten bark blankets, carried fig-tree baskets sewn with lawyer cane, and employed methods for leaching alkaloids from toxic nuts.
Hallorans Hill was an Aboriginal meeting place, and the site of the current showground was a bora ground.
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| Aborignal people near their wurley ( temporary shelte)r, made with branches and bark. Cicatrices are visible on shoulders (tribal markings, are visible as scars). One man making a dilly bag. n.d. |
Exploration
On 29 April 1875, James Venture Mulligan led a government-sponsored expedition, which passed the sites of Mareeba and Atherton, crossed the Herberton Range and found tin in the Wild River, Heberton.
John Atherton, a grazier and overlander, was born in Lancashire, England, in 1837, he was the first
settler on the Atherton tablelands in 1877. The town of Atherton is named after him.
Atherton lived at Emerald End, at the junction of Emerald Creek and the Barron River, for thirty years. He also discovered alluvial tin at a place he named Tinaroo. It is reported that when Atherton found the tin he shouted "Tin, Harroo!!" to his prospecting companion.
The first gold rush began in Australia in May 1851, which resulted in people moving from areas in Australia and flocking here, from all over the world.
The tin finds on the Atherton Tablelands also brought miners and settlers to the region, which resulted in competition for
land and effects on food availability for Aboriginal hunter-gathers. European diseases to which the Aboriginal people had no immunity were also a great threat. Frontier violence in Queensland was particularly brutal.
This violence led to detachments of the Queensland Native Mounted Police being sent to the Atherton Tablelands. Historian Henry Reynolds has described the Native Police as “the most violent organisation in Australian history”.
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| Native Police, Rockhampton, 1864, 1st Lieutenant George Murray (back row 2nd left) and his detachment of Native Mounted Police taken 1 December 1864 at Rockhampton. George Murray became Brisbane's Chief Police magistrate after his service in the NMP. Back Row: Trooper Carbine, 1st lt George Murray, 2nd Lieutenant unknown, Camp Sgt unknown, Corporal Michael. Front Row: Trooper Barney, Hector, Goondallie, Balantyne and Patrick. Queensland Police Museum |
Priors Pocket
The town of Atherton was initially called Priors Pocket, after the Prior Brothers, Walter & Thomas, who cut cedar there in 1880.
A track connecting Port Douglas and Herberton
passed through Priors Pocket, as did a surveyed railway route from Herberton to Mareeba.
Atherton was named by Falconer West Hutton, the surveyor who prepared the town layout on 11 May 1885.
A Town Develops
The town of Atherton grew from timbergetters camps in the late 1800s. Then as a staging post for Cobb and Co. Coaches, which stopped at the Barron Valley Hotel in the main street on their way to Herberton and Port Douglas.
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| Cobb & Co's mail coach on the Port Douglas - Herberton Road, Queensland, 1887, State Library of Queensland |
Atherton provided the surrounding mining centres with services and produce.
Thomas Peake's original Barron Valley Hotel, built in the 1890s, was a shack built beside the track to Herberton.
Town lots were first sold on 23 February 1886. Some purchasers were the Kelly, McGeehan, Tucker, Loder, Windhaus and Mazlin families.
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| Tennis party in Atherton, Queensland, 1888, SLQLD |
Chinatown
More than 100 000 Chinese came to the Australian colonies between the 1840s and 1890s.
When tin was discovered on the Wild River in 1880, Chinese working with European timbergetters, moved into the Atherton area. The Chinese established a settlement called Cedar Camp across Piebald Creek. Many Chinese were market gardeners and supplied vegetables to the district.
In the early 1900s, Cedar Camp, also known as Chinatown, was the social and
commercial centre for over a thousand Chinese people living in the Atherton district.
Many of the Chinese were Tennant farmers who grew maize.
Located at Herberton Road, Atherton, Chinatown was established from the 1880s to 1920s. There was a short main street with small timber and iron shops and houses. There were general goods stores, a herbalist, two gambling dens and a place of entertainment. Lee Sye was one store owner.
However, in the early 1900s, some Chinese people at Atherton responded to the collapse of the Qing dynasty in China, and the 1911 Revolution. The animosity and upheaval between anti-Qing dynasty supporters of Sun Yatsen clashed with those who were more nationalistic and pro-monarchy. This turmoil resulted in some Chinese moving away from Atherton.
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| Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1878 - 1954), Friday 23 February 1912, |
After WWII, when land was resumed for retuned soldiers, many Tennant farmers moved from the area.
1890s
In 1890 a school committee formed at Atherton and raised £65 for a provisional school, a simple two-room
timber building which opened in 1891, at the corner of Mabel and Vernon streets. In 1895 the teacher resigned and the children were sent to school at Carrington until a new teacher was appointed and the school reopened in 1896. The school closed in 1905, and in 1906 it reopened as Atherton State School.
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| Three Aboriginal adults and two children are moving camp. Each adult is carrying a woven basket on their back and the two men are have children are carrying children on their shoulders. Group at Atherton Tablelands, ca. 1895. State Library of Queensland |
Atherton Pioneer Cemetery opened in 1897, and closed in 1927.
1900s
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| Atherton women, with shoulder cicatrices [scarification]. These women are demonstrating their basket weaving technique.Women in the Atherton Tableland, QLD, 1900s, State Library of Queensland |
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| Group in front of shelter, Atherton Tableland, ca. 1900. Two men, two women and a child in front of their wooden, branch Gunyah [hut/ shelter]. Cicatrices [scars] can be seen on the men. One is holding a nulla nulla with shield. The other man is holding a boomerang with spear and wearing cloth to cover his pubic area. In front of the child is a basket. State Library of Queensland |
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| Matron and staff of the Atherton Hospital, Queensland. 1900, SLQLD |
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| Atherton Hotel, Atherton, QLD, 1900. SLQLD |
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| Atherton swimming pool. Atherton, QLD, 1900, SLQLD |
The School of Arts opened 1902.
The original Atherton Hospital was located at 18 Victoria St, Atherton QLD. The building then became Audley House.
The railway arrived in Atherton in 1903, located behind the Barron Valley Hotel, which led to the demise of the the Cobb and Co. routes through to Herberton.
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| POSTCARD: Railway Station, Atherton, QLD, Vintage Queensland |
A Taoist temple was constructed at Atherton in 1903.
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| Rider on a mule in front of Lee Sye's store in Atherton, 1904, SLQLD |
Atherton's
first annual show was held in 1904.
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| Atherton Hotel on Victoria Day, Queensland, 1904 Mark Brazier's Atherton Hotel had two-storeys. The upper verandahs had union jack balustrades. On the day of the photograph the hotel was thronged with people on the balconies and on the footpaths below. North Queensland Register |
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| Willie at The Atherton Show, QLD, North Queensland Register (Townsville, Qld. : 1892 - 1905), Monday 24 July 1905 |
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| Atherton Show, QLD, North Queensland Register (Townsville, Qld. : 1892 - 1905), Monday 24 July 1905 |
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| Queensland Ambulance, Atherton, QLD, established 1906 |
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| Horse team in the Atherton district hauling a log across a stream, ca. 1905, State Library QLD |
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| Horse Drawn-Royal Mail coach in Main Street, Atherton, QLD, in 1908 |
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| Atherton Cricket team, Queensland, 1908, North QLD Register |
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| General view of Atherton - circa 1908.- Vintage Queensland |
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| Commonwealth Hotel in Atherton, 1908. Adjoining businesses of the Commonwealth Hotel and Hunt's Emporium in Atherton. The hotel has a wide encircling verandah and the Hotel's sign is painted on the corrugated iron roof. SLQLD |
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| Building Atherton Railway. Atherton end of the tunnel, coach road at the top of hill. Week (Brisbane, Qld. : 1876 - 1934), Friday 11 March 1910 |
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| Blanket distribution at Atherton, QLD, 1911, SLQLD |
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| Interior of Chinese joss house at Atherton, QLD, Western Mail (Perth, WA : 1885 - 1954), Friday 14 February 1913 |
In 1913 there were at least 13 Islander farms in the Atherton district.
Dr Eric Mjöberg from Sweden travelled around the Atherton tableland in 1913 and made observations about Aboriginal material culture on the Atherton Tablelands. One of the photos in his 1918 book shows an Aboriginal mia mia (shelter) under construction on a lawyer vine frame at Prior's Pocket (Atherton) .
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| Bland vilda djur och folk i Australien, his travel account, Bonnier, Stockholm, 1915, Mjöberg, E. G |
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| Atherton, QLD, 1914 Queen Carnival |
WWI
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| Alfred Edwin Winterford, 25th Battalion, of Atherton, Qld. Studio portrait of Second Lieutenant (2nd Lt) Alfred Edwin Winterford, 25th Battalion, of Atherton, Qld. Winterford, a land commissioner, had served 15 months in the 2nd Queensland Mounted Infantry during the South African War of 1899 to 1902. He enlisted in the AIF in January 1916 and was promoted to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant in August 1916. 2nd Lt Winterford embarked from Sydney with the 19th Reinforcements, aboard HMAT Wiltshire (A18) on 7 February 1917. He arrived in France for service on the Western Front on 9 July 1917 and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant (Lt) on 1 September 1917. On 4 October 1917 he was wounded in action by a gunshot wound to the thigh. He returned to the front on 7 April 1918 and was killed in action in France on 10 June 1918. Lt Winterford was 44 years of age. |
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| Post Office and Courthouse at Atherton, on the tablelands ca. in 1915 Far North Qld |
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| Smith Residence at Atherton, Queensland 1917. SLQLD |
Land was resumed for retuned soldiers at Atherton after WWI.
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| Golden Grove Butter Factory, Atherton, QLD, Northern Herald (Cairns, Qld. : 1913 - 1939), Thursday 13 June 1918 |
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| Atherton, QLD, Northern Herald (Cairns, Qld. : 1913 - 1939), Thursday 9 January 1919 |
1920s
Ronald Grainer was born on 11 August 1922 in Atherton, became known for his television and film score music, especially the theme music for Doctor Who, The Prisoner, Steptoe and Son and Tales of
the Unexpected.St Joseph's School opened in 1923.
In 1924 there were five hotels at Atherton.
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| Atherton Hospital, QLD, 1925. SLQLD |
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| Golfers at the links in Atherton, QLD, ca. 1925, SLQLD |
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| Nurses at Atherton QLD, about 1926. JM |
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| Atherton Main Street near the war memorial statue, Queensland, 1928, SLQLD |
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| Main Street, Atherton, Queensland, 1928 |
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| Arrival of the train at Atherton station, QLD, 1928, The Queenslander |
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| Atherton Ambulance Brigade, Atherton, QLD, 1928 |
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| Queenslander home set in a tropical garden at Atherton, QLD, 1929, SLQLD |
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| Joss house, atherton, QLD, Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld. : 1866 - 1939), Thursday 12 December 1929 |
1930s
Sconder (Alexander) Nasser, a migrant from Lebanon took over the ownership of the Barron Valley Hotel in 1930.
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| Maize picker at work, Atherton, North Queensland, c 1930, Queensland State Archives |
In 1933 the population of Atherton was 1585.
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| Main Street Atherton, QLD, 1934, SLQLD |
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| Maize Silos, Atherton, QLD, c 1935, Queensland State Archives |
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The Atherton Hotel has been a landmark at Atherton, QLD, since the early 1900s. A fire occurred on the 16th September 1941, leaving only a charred pole. The new hotel on this site opened in late 1954. Affectionately known as "The Stump"
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The Maize Board began manufacturing the "Athmaze" (Atherton Maize) in 1936.
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| The Maize Board began manufacturing the "Athmaze" Athmaize (Atherton Maize) in 1936., Atherton QLD |
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| Johnstone River Advocate and Innisfail News (Qld. : 1928 - 1941), Friday 2 October 1936 |
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| Roxy Theatre on Main Street in Atherton, QLD, in 1936 |
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| On the Atherton Tableland, Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 28 July 1937 |
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| The arrival of the Governor (Sir Leslie Wilson) and Lady Wilson at Atherton, where his Excellency opened the Queen Carnival and sports meeting conducted bythe Atherton Agricultural Society and the local branch of the R.S.S.I.L.A. In the picture above Sir Leslie is being received by the shire clerk, Miss J. Taylor. In the background, Lady Wilson is receiving a basket of flowers. Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 - 1947), Wednesday 28 June 1939 |
1940s
The establishment of the Tablelands Base Area in 1942 as a base for rehabilitating and training troops, created a lot of Army
traffic through Atherton's main street. Many of Atherton's buildings housed both Australian and American forces.
The Atherton Courthouse was used as a wartime hospital for officers during World War II. There are air raid bunkers beneath the building.
Nearby Mareeba Airfield
also functioned as a staging post for battles in New Guinea and the Pacific.
William Lindsay Jue Sue of Atherton enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force 25 May 1942 (of Chinese descent). A9301: RAAF, NCOs and Other Ranks.
In 1942 the Military took over the Atherton Showground and remained there for three years.
In November 1943 an Australian Defence Canteen was erected at the Atherton Showgrounds, becoming known as Merriland Hall.
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| Australian Army canteen "igloo" under construction in Atherton, Queensland, 1943 |
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| ATHERTON, QLD. 1943-12-24. SUPPER TIME DURING THE CHRISTMAS PARTY AT THE WOMEN'S SERVICES CLUB. IDENTIFIED PERSONNEL ARE: SERGEANT BOYD, AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S ARMY SERVICE (1). AWM |
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| ATHERTON, QLD. 1944-04-25. TROOPS OF THE 3RD DIVISION AND ALLIED UNITS FORMING UP ON THE GILLIES HIGHWAY NEAR THE GRAND HOTEL FOR THE ANZAC DAY SERVICE AT THE WAR MEMORIAL. THE SALVATION ARMY TRUCK IN THE FOREGROUND SUPPLIED THE MICROPHONE, ETC. AWM |
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| ATHERTON, QLD. 1944-04-25. EX-SERVICEMEN OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR AND SECOND WORLD WAR PARTICIPATING IN THE ANZAC DAY MARCHING THROUGH MAIN STREET TOWARDS THE WAR MEMORIAL. SPECTATORS STAND IN THE STREET AND ON THE BALCONY OF THE GRAND HOTEL. AWM |
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| ANZAC Day celebrations, Atherton, QLD, 1944, SLQLD |
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| ATHERTON, QLD. 1944-04-25. MEMBERS OF THE AUSTRALIAN ARMY MEDICAL WOMEN'S SERVICE MARCHING ALONG MAIN STREET TOWARDS THE WAR MEMORIAL DURING THE ANZAC DAY MARCH. SPECTATORS STAND IN THE STREET AND ON THE BALCONY OF THE GRAND HOTEL. AWM |
The Atherton Shire Hall, built in 1898, was destroyed by fire in 1948, and an igloo building built during the war became a Community Centre.
1950s
William John Bock, who lived at Atherton during the town's early days, made an audio recording discussing the early town prior to his death on 19 February 1953.
In the 1950s, Tinaroo Dam was built on the Barron River as part of an irrigation scheme to support agriculture.
A two ring bora ceremonial site (Aboriginal) existed at Alberton until the 1950s, when it was destroyed for a pineapple plantation.
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| Main Street, Atherton, QLD, 1950s, Vintage QLD |
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| Main Street, Atherton, QLD, about 1950s |
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| Atherton Main Street circa early 1950's looking south, QLD |
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| Convent and Catholic church, Mable Street, Atherton, QLD - 1950s, Vintage QLD |
More Recently
The Atherton Public Library opened in 1978.
The 36th Premier of Queensland, Peter Beattie, in office from 1998 to 2007, grew up at Atherton.
At the 2011 census Atherton had a population of 7,287.
Around Atherton
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| The Grand Hotel, Atherton, QLD, built in 1936 |
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| The Atherton Hotel has existed since the early 1900s. In 1944 a fire broke out, leaving only a charred light pole which was dubbed the "black stump". The new building was not finished until 1954, so a temporary bar to satisfy the pub's loyal clientele was quickly set up on adjacent land. The hotel is still affectionately known as "the Stump" |
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| Carrington Hotel at Atherton, QLD |
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| The Atherton War Memorial, QLD, was unveiled on 1 May 1924. Australia lost 60,000 from a population of about 4 million, representing one in five of those who served in WWI |
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| The Barron Valley Hotel at 53 Main Street, Atherton, Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia, was designed by Hill & Taylor and built from 1940 to 1941. Has been run by the Nasser family for 70-90 years |
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| Atherton Performing Arts Theatre is a heritage-listed former military depot and now theatre at 6 Silo Street, Atherton, QLD, built in 1943. It is also known as Atherton WWII Igloo |
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| Atherton State School Head Teacher's Residence, was built in 1913 to accommodate the large family of the school's head teacher at the time, Joseph Johnson Heritage branch staff |
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| Atherton War Cemetery was built in 1942, Atherton, QLD. It contains a Cross of Sacrifice and 164 graves and headstones for soldiers and airmen killed during World War II |
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| In November 1943 an Australian Defence Canteen was erected at the Atherton Showgrounds, becoming known as Merriland Hall, Atherton QLD |
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| The Atherton Courthouse, QLD, was built in 1941 and features timber panels constructed from rare quilted, Queensland rainforest maple, which is no longer milled in Australia |
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| WWII before restoration, Atherton, QLD |
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| Main Street, Atherton, QLD |
Things To Go and Places to Go
Museums & Galleries Trail
Hou Wang Chinese Temple and Museum
