Port Douglas, Far North Queensland, is approximately 70km from Cairns and 1767km from Brisbane.
This
seaside village is close to the World Heritage-Listed Great Barrier Reef, the Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation.
Yirrganydji People (Kuku Yalanji)Yirrganydji territory includes the coastal strip of land
between the areas now known as Cairns and Port Douglas.
Belonging to the Djabugay language
group of Far North Queensland, the Yirrganydji were a gatherer-hunter society.
Males hunted animals like wallabies, bandicoots, scrub pythons, sand goannas, blue-tongued lizards, flying foxes, cassowaries, brush turkeys and other birds and various seafoods.
Foraging for small lizards and
collecting bush foods was done by females. Yirrganydji women were knowledgable about different food sources.
About once a year, the Yirrganydji joined neighbouring clans, where feasting, trading, initiation ceremonies, marriage arrangements, and dispute resolution would occur. Some meeting sites include: White Rock, Palm Cove, and Port Douglas.
The trading of
goods between tribes would consist of
Miya Miya /
Milka (nautilus
shell necklaces),
Yimpi (Dilly baskets),
Wakuy (swords) and Matyay(shields).
The Barron and Port Douglas areas traded hour-glass pattern dilly bags, round based dilly bags, beeswax necklaces, straight shell shafted spear throwers, a variety of bamboo spears, square cut nautilus shell necklaces and cockatoo top knot head dresses.
The Yirrganydji lived in small extended family groups,
camping in the sand dunes. Fires were lit to repel mosquitoes and sandflies.
Gudju Gudju, the Rainbow Serpent, who is connected to all creeks and natural water sources, according to stories, came from the water to create the world.
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| Art in Australia, Third series, No. 59 (15 May 1935) |
Another Yirrganydji creation story tells of
Dumari, an ancestral being, who lost his leg when attacked by
Ganyarra (Crocodile). Dumari called out to his wife to run as he staggered away and lay down close to the Whitfield Ranges. Dumari’s wife ran
inland and turned into the coastal ranges.
Aboriginal walking tracks and trade routes (Dreaming tracks), are commonly throughout Australia, believed to be made by Ancestral Beings as they created the landscape. The tracks may be related to Song Lines. Stone axes and nut cracking stones may be found discarded near these tracks.
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| Art in Australia, Third series, No. 59 (15 May 1935) |
Each clan of many Far North Queensland Aboriginal clans had shields with distinctive designs.
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| Each clan of many Far North Queensland Aboriginal clans had shields with distinctive designs |
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| According to custom two men work together on a shield, applying, with a paint brush of frayed lawyer-cane, native clays, which have been mixed with water in a ti-tree-bark vessel from lumps of clay, visible in the fore-ground. Art in Australia, May 15th, 1935. |
Stone axes and grinding stones have been found at the mouth of Hartley’s Creek.
1770
In 1770, Captain Cook became the first European to sail along the
east coast of Australia, aboard HMS
Endeavour. Sailing past Port Douglas, through the treacherous Great Barrier Reef, with great
caution, just before midnight on 11 June 1770, the Endeavour hit a reef and the ship began filling with water.
James Cook wrote:
"We went to work to lighten her as fast as possible which seem’d to be the only means we had left to get her off as we … threw’d over board our guns Iron and stone ballast, Casks, Hoops staves oyle Jars, decay’d stores &Ca ..."
James Cook named this place "Cape Tribulation" because "here began all our troubles". The drive from Port Douglas to Cape Tribulation is 84km in distance, with a driving time of around 1h 47m.
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| HMS Endeavour was a British Royal Navy research vessel that Lieutenant James Cook commanded to Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia on his first voyage of discovery from 1768 to 1771. |
1870s
William Hann explored the interior of Cape York Peninsula in 1872, reporting gold on the Palmer River.
James Venture Mulligan investigated the gold discovery a year later. The Palmer goldfield was proclaimed in 1875.
Port Douglas began surpassing the
nearby rival town, Cairns, established in 1876.
In 1876, there were about 30,000 people in the Port Douglas area, including many Chinese. This was the time of the Palmer River gold rush.
A journey to Cairns required travel through challenging mountainous terrain.
In 1877, the bushman Christy Palmerston discovered a new route allowing easier access from the goldfields to the coast. This coastal site was then surveyed, declared a port of entry and clearance and officially named Port Douglas.
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| Port Douglas Beach, QLD, (1870s), NGV |
Port Douglas was established in 1877 primarily to as a port town for the nearby mining industry.
Port Douglas was known as White Island Point, Island Point, Port Owen, Owenville, Port Salisbury and Salisbury, before being
officially named in 1877.
Port Douglas Post Office opened on 1 September 1877.
In October 1878, a regular mail service was established.
Court House Hotel was
established 1878.
The Port Douglas Court House was constructed in 1879.
The traditional lifestyles of Aboriginal people were severely disrupted by European settlement and land use.
1880sBy 1882, there were 14 hotels at Port Douglas, and it became the main port for gold fields.
In the early days of the mining boom, Port Douglas had ".... population of several thousands, and within a radius of eight miles, it could boast of 27 hotels!" (
2.)
In February 1882, both Port Douglas and Cairns formed Railway Leagues, to fight for a railway to the coast.
Cairns became the terminus for the railway in 1883.
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| PORT DOUGLAS, NORTHERN QUEENSLAND. 2. THE LANDING PLACE. Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Saturday 13 October 1883 |
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| Cobb & Co's mail coach on the Port Douglas - Herberton Road, Queensland, 1887, SLQLD |
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| Week (Brisbane, Qld. : 1876 - 1934), Saturday 18 February 1888 |
1890s
The Kuranda Railway from Cairns to Kuranda was completed in 1891
The opening of the Cairns to Mareeba railway in 1893 led to and Port Douglas being reduced in importance. The terminus for the Atherton Tableland Railway was located at Cairns.
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| Archibald Meston with group of men and boys, Daintree River, QLD, ca. 1895, State Library of Queensland |
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| M.A. Tyrell's Hotel at the Mossman, Port Douglas, QLD, North Queensland Register (Townsville, Qld. : 1892 - 1905), Wednesday 14 April 1897 |
Tick fever swept through Queensland, devastated the cattle herds, and farmers turned to sugar cane.
The tram extends from Port Douglas for nine miles in the direction of the Mossman Mill, and there junctions with the
Mossman Mill line. (
1.)
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| Morning Post (Cairns, Qld. : 1897 - 1907), Wednesday 10 May 1899 |
1900s |
| Queensland Country Life (Qld. : 1900 - 1954), Monday 17 December 1900 |
Port Douglas Wharf and Storage Shed were built in 1904 for the Douglas Shire Council.
Many Yirrganydji people moved to the nearby Yarrabah and Mona Mona Aboriginal Settlements during the 1900s-1930s.
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| Queenslander ( Qld. : 1866 - 1939), Saturday 6 April 1907 (The Queensland Government has supplied effective vaccines for tick fever since the early 1900s) |
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| Port Douglas, Qld - very early 1900, Aussie Mobs |
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| Hospital at Port Douglas, Qld - very early 1900s, Aussie~mobs |
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| Port Douglas, QLD, 1900?-1915? James Cossar Smith Collection, UQFL11 |
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| Port Douglas, QLD, 1900?-1915? James Cossar Smith Collection, UQFL11 |
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| Portion of the town of Port Douglas, Qld - before the cyclone 16 March 1911, Aussie Mobs |
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| View of Port Douglas, North Qld - early 1900s, Aussie Mobs |
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| Tram Station at Port Douglas, Qld - very early 1900s, Aussie Mobs |
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| Aboriginal family group displaying decorative body scarring, Port Douglas, Queensland, ca.1910, NLAUST |
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| Aboriginal Camp near Port Douglas, QLD, Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld. : 1866 - 1939), Saturday 30 July 1910 |
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| Railway Station at Port Douglas, Queensland, ca. 1910, SLQLD |
There have been three major cyclones recorded which have caused major damage in the region – 1911, 1920 and 1934.
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| Port Douglas, QLD, Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), Tuesday 21 March 1911 |
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| Portion of the town of Port Douglas, Qld - after the cyclone 16 March 1911, Aussie Mobs |
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| Cyclone at Port Douglas, QLD. 1. Portion of Port Douglas before the Cyclone. 2. Same portion of PortDouglas after the Cyclone, showing 13 Houses demolished. 3. There were 11 Houses standing in this Square, but only one after the storm. The Piano in the foreground was blown 25 yards from where it had stood in (he now demolished Oddfellows' Hall. 4. Ruins of a Store, with the stock exposed to the elements. 5. Block of Housesdestroyed by the Cyclone. 6. The "Coronation Concert Hall," erecfted 5 months ago at a cost of £1,000. The Building came down with a crash when the "glass" fell to 28.9, Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 22 April 1911 |
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| Pack team of heavily-laden donkeys (mules) at Port Douglas, QLD, 1911., following the landslides on the Kuranda Railway that closed the line for three months There were a number of mule pack teams operating in the region at the time. The best known was that of Manero (Manny) Borghero. |
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| Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), Saturday 1 February 1913 |
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| A Port Douglas Native, QLD, Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 24 September 1913 |
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| Native Tribe and Mia-Mias at, Port Douglas (Queensland).Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 20 August 1913 |
The population of Port Douglas was only 250 people in 1914.
WWI |
| Entering Port Douglas, QLD, Northern Herald (Cairns, Qld. : 1913 - 1939), Friday 22 January 1915 |
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| Pte. W. G. Millett, Port Douglas, QLD, Northern Herald (Cairns, Qld. : 1913 - 1939), Friday 13 October 1916 |
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| Gus (Augustus Hodgkinson) Davies was born in Port Douglas, QLD, approx. 1880. After his mother died when he was just 3 weeks old, he was adopted by her employers Thomas Clinton and Mary Jane Davies. He volunteered to serve with the first AIF in May 1917. When he arrived in England he joined the troops at the 11th Australian Training Battalion at Larkhill Camp, later moving to No. 13 Camp Fovant, then on to No.2 Camp Depot, Weymouth. Davies experience in the winter of 1917 determined his military fate. The medical authorities decided that as he was suffering from chronic rheumatism and had flat feet he would not be fit to serve in the front lines in France and Belgium. Davies was granted a soldier settlement allotment at Wyampa in Bald Hills. |
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| Cairns Post (Qld. : 1909 - 1954), Thursday 23 August 1917 |
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| TROOPER B. DOYLE, Son' of Mr. and Mrs. Doyle. Port Douglas,QLD, nephew of Mrs. Honran, of Coorparoo ; wounded in France. Week (Brisbane, Qld. : 1876 - 1934), Friday 18 January 1918 |
1920s
Port Douglas had been the administrative centre of Douglas Shire until the 1920s, when the headquarters shifted to Mossman.
The road from Mareeba to Port Douglas by Cobb and Co., bullock and horse teams, involved a laborious struggle up the steep rise of "The Bump". With the coming of cars, they also, had to be hauled up by horses. Coming down, they tied a log on the back to stop them slipping.
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| Northern Herald (Cairns, Qld. : 1913 - 1939), Wednesday 26 October 1927 |
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| Cairns Post (Qld. : 1909 - 1954) |
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| Townsville Daily Bulletin (Qld. : 1907 - 1954), Wednesday 19 October 1927 |
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| Two men look on as a car and its passengers are hauled up the Bump Track by three horses, Port Douglas Region, Queensland, ca. 1928 [picture] / Charles Maurice Yonge, NLAUST |
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| Panorama of Port Douglas, Queensland, ca. 1927, State Library of Queensland |
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| James Rutherford is credited with the establishment of Cobb & Co, a major stagecoach network, which he purchased in 1861. Sunday Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1926 - 1954), Sunday 30 June 1929 |
1930s |
| Aboriginal people and bee-hive shaped hut, Port Douglas, QLD, The Commonwealth home. Vol. 37 No. 990 (2 January 1930) |
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| U. P. Reynold's team of horses pulling a car to the top of Slatey Pinch on Bump Road near Port Douglas, QLD. ca. 1930. (Note the angle is exaggerated by the photographer - see the canefields in the background and the man standing beside the car.) State Library of Queensland - John Oxley Collection. |
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| Port Douglas, QLD, c.1930s-1950s, Queensland State Archives |
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| The Commonwealth home. Vol. 37 No. 992 (1 March 1930) |
On March 12, 1934, a powerful cyclone crossed the coast of Far North Queensland at Cape Tribulation. A pearling fleet was decimated by the system, resulting in the loss of 75 lives.
The Bump Track was the only road out from Port Dou
glas until the coast
road to Cairns was built in 1933.
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| Driving on the Beach at Port Douglas, c 1935, Queensland State Archives |
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| Blyth Agriculturist (SA : 1908 - 1954), Friday 27 November 1936 |
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| Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 9 November 1938 |
1940s and WWII
On 31 July, 1942, a Japanese air raid dropped 8 bombs in the Douglas Shire over Mossman. One exploded in a field, damaging a house and injuring a child.
During World War II, the Bump Track was mined so that it could be destroyed if there was a Japanese invasion.
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| Cairns Post (Qld. : 1909 - 1954), Saturday 14 June 1941 |
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PTE. V. C. GREGORY son of Mr. and Mrs. C. GREGORYPort Douglas. Died of illness.Townsville Daily Bulletin (Qld. : 1907 - 1954), Thursday 22 January 1942, |
1950sUntil 1958, Port Douglas had survived as a sugar port.
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| Queensland Country Life (Qld. : 1900 - 1954), Thursday 23 November 1950 |
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| Low Island located in the Low Isles Queensland, 1954. (n Queensland's Great Barrier Reef, the Low Isles (Islets) are 2 small coral cays located 13 kilometres from Port Douglas) A team of scientists visited Low Island in 1954. The visit was organised by the Geology Department at the University of Queensland. Vintage QLD |
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| Aboriginal man dancing surrounded by small crowd, Port Douglas, Queensland, April 1957, NLAUST |
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| Port Douglas, QLD, Walkabout.Vol.23No. 9 (1 September 1957) |
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Macrossan Street, Port Douglas, (QLD) looking south. The statue in the centre of the street, on the rise,
is that of Neil Macrossan, after whom the street was named. Walkabout.Vol.23No. 9 (1 September 1957) |
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| Port Douglas and the Court House Hotel, QLD in the 1950s |
The last sugar shipment from Port Douglas wharf on 1 April 1958.
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| The carved entrance-way overlooking Port Douglas on Flagstaff Hill (QLD) was salvaged from a long vanished joss house. Walkabout. Vol. 25 No. 1 (1 January 1959) |
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| On the hillside above Port Douglas (QLD) a modem restaurant, the Nautilus. Walkabout. Vol. 25 No. 1 (1 January 1959) |
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| The mail coach in Port Douglas's Main Street, QLD, Walkabout. Vol. 25 No. 1 (1 January 1959) |
1960s
Port Douglas functioned mostly as a fishing and
holiday town.
In 1963, Mr W. R. F. Bolton arranged, at his own cost, the longest coach journey ever undertaken, a re-enactment of a Cobb & Co. coach trip from Port Douglas to Melbourne via the inland route.
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| Cobb & Co charity run from Port Douglas, Qld to Melbourne, Vic - 1963 - (this location unknown) Aussie~mobs |
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| Ford Falcon (?) at Port Douglas. Queensland, Australia. Kodachrome Transparency, c.1969. Zemedia |
1970sThe Sugar Wharf was known as the "Shipwreck Museum", which had a large collection of shipwreck relics.
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| Ben Cropp's Shipwreck Museum Port Douglas, QLD. Port Douglas Historical Museum |
1980s
The
Douglas Times began, delayed a week when Cyclone Winifred unroofed the Innisfail printery.
Port Douglas boomed as a tourist destination.
The Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort, built by the disgraced businessman Christopher Skase at a reported cost of $100 million, officially opened in October 1987. Many famous guests have stayed there.
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| Court House Hotel, Port Douglas, QLD - 1980s, Vintage QLD |
1990s |
| View of 4-mile beach at Port Douglas, QLD, shot taken from lookout, 1998, Queensland State Archives |
2000s
The "Shipwreck Museum", in 2000, was relocated to Cairns.
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| Aboriginal people, Cairns and Port Douglas, Australia, 2013, Bruce Tuten |
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| Court House Hotel, Port Douglas, QLD, 2013 |
Around Port Douglas |
| Flagstaff Hill is a short walk from the main street of Port Douglas and to the lookout to view the spectacular Coral Sea and Four Mile Beach, Port Douglas, QLD |
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| Port Douglas Court House Museum, QLD, is a heritage-listed former courthouse and museum at 25 Wharf Street, Port Douglas. IT is the second oldest timber court house in Queensland, built in 1879. The museum is operated by the Port Douglas Historical Society |
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| Court House Hotel, Port Douglas, Qld, established 1878. Built in 1878 by Mr. W. H. Buchanan, the hotel was originally known as the "Buchanan's Family Hotel", then 'Buchanan's Court House Hotel'. It is one of only two the surviving original 27hotels at Port Douglas |
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| The Sugar Wharf Port Douglas, QLD, was built in 1904 by the Douglas Shire Council |
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| The Central Hotel, built in 1878, is the oldest pub in Port Douglas, QLD. Originally named the North Australian Hotel, it was damaged in the 1911 cyclone and was rebuilt as the Central Hotel |
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| St Mary's by the Sea is a heritage-listed non-denominational church at Wharf Street, Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1913 to 1914. It is also known as the former St Mary's Roman Catholic Church. |
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| Port Douglas, QLD, harbour |
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| A small lighthouse on a hill overlooking the Coral Sea, Flagstaff Hill in Port Douglas, QLD |
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| Sheraton Mirage resort, Port Douglas, opened in 1988, by fugitive developer Christopher Skase |
Things To Do and Places To Go
