Mackay, Central Queensland, is about 970 kilometres (603 mi) north of Brisbane on the Pioneer River.
Often called the sugar capital of Australia, Mackay has a rich history and culture to explore.
Aboriginal People
In Mackay and its surrounding areas, six Aboriginal groups have been identified, with the Yuwibara people being the most dominant group.
Other groups are the Wiri, Biria, Jangga, Barna and Barada, with each group estimated to have consisted of 500 members. Evidence of Aboriginal occupation is evident in the shell middens, rock fish trap and stone axe-heads in the region.
The Australian Race: Its Origin, Languages, Customs, Place of ..., Volume 3 By Edward Micklethwaite Curr
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| QUEENSLAND NATIVES MAKING FIRE BY RUBBING STICKS. Week (Brisbane, Qld. : 1876 - 1934), Friday 20 April 1906 (to make fire, two sticks are rubbed together with enough force and friction) |
Shell fish were collected from nearby mangroves and roasted over open fires. Evidence of fire places have been found approximately one metre below the present soil surface.
At Mount a Jukes mens' ceremonial site exists, and Yuibera elders claim that a eungie (spirit) walks about the campground.
1770s
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| Endeavour replica in Cooktown harbour. John Hill |
1800s
Captain Matthew Flinders explored the region in 1802, recording evidence of Aboriginal occupation in the area.
1830s
Between 1838 and 1968, areas in Queensland were set up as reserves, missions and settlements for Aboriginal people.
1850s
Queensland separated from New South Wales in 1859 and became the colony of Queensland.
1860s
In 1860, 20-year-old John Mackay led an expedition to seek pastoral land, leaving from Uralla to what is now known as the Pioneer River.
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| John Mackay (26 March 1839 – 11 March 1914) was a Scottish-born explorer, sailor and harbourmaster best known for having the town of Mackay, Queensland named after him. Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), Thursday 12 March 1914, |
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| Daily Mercury publication, Jubilee of Mackay 1862-1912 (Billy Coakley, also known as Spencer’s Billy (Billy Spencer) was born in Jamaica) |
Mackay named it Mackay River after his father, George Mackay of Uralla in New South Wales. However, when George Bowen, the Governor of Queensland, visited on the HMS Pioneer in October 1862, the name was changed to Pioneer River.
John Mackay, in January 1962, drove cattle to Green mount Knoll, the first settlement in the Mackay district. But Mackay leaves in August of that year after a partnership disagreement.
The town was founded in 1862, and declared a port of entry in 1863.In May 1863, Thomas Henry Fitzgerald's first survey of the township also proposed it be called Alexandra after Princess Alexandra of Denmark, who married Prince Edward (later King Edward VII).
The first sale of town allotments was in 1864.
The first sale of town allotments was in 1864.
The "Sugar and Coffee Regulations Act" passed in 1864 kickstarts the sugar industry. The following year, John Spiller experimented with growing cane in this district. He also produced the first sugar using a home-made wooden horse mill.
Sugar cane was first planted at Mackay in 1865.
Sugar cane was first planted at Mackay in 1865.
W.O. Hodgkinson starts first newspaper, the Mackay Mercury, in 1866.
Thomas Henry Fitzgerald, the surveyor of the town, begins a plantation on the south banks of Pioneer River and calls it "Alexandra".
About 70 South Sea Islanders arrived in Mackay on the ship the Prima Donna in 1867. (many were recruited or blackbirded from islands in Melanesia)
Frontier violence occurred across the Mackay district during the 1860s and 1870s. Native Police barracks were established at Marlborough in 1866 and Bloomsbury, just north of Mackay, in 1868.
Frontier violence occurred across the Mackay district during the 1860s and 1870s. Native Police barracks were established at Marlborough in 1866 and Bloomsbury, just north of Mackay, in 1868.
* Native police were armed, and mounted Aboriginal men led by European officers were used by the Queensland government in frontier districts.
A lock-up of two cells, surrounded by stockade, was built in the 1860s.
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| Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), Saturday 27 July 1867 |
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| Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld. : 1866 - 1939), Saturday 2 October 1869 |
Sugar cane was first planted at Mackay in 1865.
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| Business district of Mackay, 1868. Wooden structures make up the settlement of Mackay, QLD. The Court House is on the left and a butcher shop, general store and stables are toward the right. Several outhouses can be seen and washing is hanging on the bottom left corner. There is a wagon amid the timber in the back yard. 1868, SLQLD |
1870s
In 1870, G F Bridgman, the manager of Homebush station near Mackay, noted the many Aboriginal people camping at Homebush station. Bridgeman campaigned to for an Aboriginal reserve in the area.
The Queensland government then set aside an area of 14,080 acres as an Aboriginal reserve near the Cape Palmerstone and Homebush pastoral runs in 1871. (read more)
In 1875, rust disease sweeps through local cane fields.
In 1875, rust disease sweeps through local cane fields.
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| Mackay Turf Club members, ca. 1870. Caption under photograph reads: Original members Mackay Turf Club. (Standing) - E. Rawson, C. Rawson, Dr. McBurney, R. Martin. (Sitting) - A. Shields, D. Connor, J. C. Binney. SLQLD |
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| Mackay Aboriginal people, QLD, 1872 |
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| Alexandra Sugar Mills, Mackay [picture] / Reckitt and Mills, QLD, 1875, SLQLD |
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| Premises of D. Shepherd, Ironmonger, Mackay, QLD, 1875, SLQLD |
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| Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 - 1947), Monday 6 August 1877 |
1880s
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| Large group of Aboriginal Australian men with spears in front of a large timber building on a cane farm, Mackay district, Queensland, 1880, SLQLD |
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| John Spiller's first steam engine Mary Ann built by Robertson & Co at the Victoria Foundry, Mackay, in 1880 crossing Fursden Creek. Or less likely: The Emma Ruth, John Spiller's first steam engine transporting rakes of sugar cane to Pioneer Mill, over Fursden Creek. Mackay region. (SLQld) |
First issue of Mackay Free Press & Pioneer Advocate Newspaper in 1880.
Gold rushes nearby, brought migrants from with Australia and overseas to the region.
The Mackay Railway line in the Pioneer River valley opened in a series of sections between 1885 and 1911.
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| Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay and Burnett Advertiser (Qld. : 1860 - 1947), Thursday 29 December 1887 |
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| Locomotive at River Estate, Mackay, QLD, ca. 1880, SLQLD |
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| Mackay. QLD, about 1883 looking north east from the Australian Joint Stock Bank, SLQLD |
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| Election day in Mackay, QLD, outside the Australian Joint Stock Bank, 1883, SLQLD |
1890s
In the late 1890s, the creation of Queensland's protectionist regime resulted in Aboriginal people being removed from their country and placed on government reserves.
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| Japanese team cutting a tramway through the Farleigh Plantation, Mackay, QLD (Description supplied with photograph). Significant numbers of Japanese workers arrived in 1894 to work in mills and to extend tramways, nd, Vintage QLD |
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| MESSRS. MARSH AND WEBSTER, GENERAL MERCHANTS, MACKAY, QLD. Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 23 November 1895 |
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| MESSES. W. H. PAXTON AND CO., WHOLESALE MEUCHANTS AND SHIPPERS, MACKAY, QLD. Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 23 November 1895 |
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| Mackay Mercury Offices, QLD, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 23 November 1895 |
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| Mackay Standar, Mackay, QLD, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 23 November 1895 |
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| Cane train at Mackay, QLD, North Queensland Register (Townsville, Qld. : 1892 - 1905), Monday 11 September 1899 |
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| THE PORPOISE LEAVING THE WHAEE, MACKAY. QLD. North Queensland Register (Townsville, Qld. : 1892 - 1905), Monday 6 November 1899 |
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| Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), Saturday 7 October 1899 |
1900s
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| NATIVE CAMP IN THE BED OF THE PIONEER RIVER, 20 MILES ABOVE MACKAY. QLD. Week (Brisbane, Qld. : 1876 - 1934), Friday 7 March 1902, |
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| Mackay, QLD, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 15 June 1904 |
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| Mackay Hospital, QLD, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 15 June 1904 |
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| Railway Station, Mackay, QLD, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 15 June 1904 |
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| AUSN Co' Wharf, Mackay, QLD, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 15 June 1904 |
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| Customs House, Mackay, QLD, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 15 June 1904 |
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| Mackay, QLD, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 15 June 1904 |
ABORIGINAL CAMP, PLANE CREEK, MACKAY. QLD. Week (Brisbane, Qld. : 1876 - 1934), Friday 23 March 1906
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| Australian South Sea Islanders cooking clams on a Mackay beach, QLD, 1906, SLQLD |
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| Grand Hotel, cnr Victoria and Brisbane Streets, Mackay, QLD - circa 1909 (built in 1907) Aussie~mobs |
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| "Kanakas mustering before leaving for the Island" . Postcard circa 1908. The "White Australia" policy enacted after federation required all indentured South Sea Islander Labourers be returned to their home islands. A good proportion however stayed and worked their own farms. After 40 years the Kanaka trade ceased and gradually european workers replaced the South Sea Islanders. Mackay, QLD |
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| River St, Mackay, no date, Vintage QLD |
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| Mackay Post Office, QLD, 1910, Vintage QLD |
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| Shop in Victoria Street, Mackay, QLD, circa 1911 (SLQLD) |
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| Village Settlement, Bed of Pioneer River, Mackay, QLD - circa 1910, Vintage QLD |
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| Cable Tramway, Plewstowe, Mackay, QLD - circa 1910, Vintage QLD |
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| Aboriginal people in the Mackay district, QLD, Week (Brisbane, Qld. : 1876 - 1934), Friday 1 December 1911 |
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| State Savings Bank, Mackay, QLD, Week (Brisbane, Qld. : 1876 - 1934), Friday 6 September 1912 |
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| Ambulance Brigade on corner of Sydney and Alfred Streets, Mackay QLD- circa 1913, Vintage QLD |
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| Aboriginal people at Mackay, QLD, Week (Brisbane, Qld. : 1876 - 1934), Friday 26 December 1913, |
WWI
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| LATE PTE. G. Q. QUINTRELL (Mackay.) Northern Herald (Cairns, Qld. : 1913 - 1939), Friday 28 December 1917 |
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Pte. R - B. Flaherty, Mackay. Northern Herald (Cairns, Qld. : 1913 - 1939), Friday 14 September 1917 |
GRANT John Military Medal. Lieutenant 15th Btn Australian Infantry AIF Enlisted Mackay Qld. 21 February 1916. Died Thursday 23 May 1918 Amiens France.
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| F. Morris, one of the soldiers photographed in The Queenslander Pictorial, supplement to The Queenslander, 1917. Frank Morris (1881-1957) was born in Walkerston, near Mackay to Jane Morris of the Yuwibara people. Morris was employed as a stockman at Oxford Downs Station, via Nebo when he enlisted in August 1917. |
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| Sydney Street, Mackay, QLD, Northern Herald (Cairns, Qld. : 1913 - 1939), Thursday 14 February 1918 |
First Masonic Hall in Mackay, QLD, destroyed by cyclone 1918, SLQLD
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| Mackay, QLD, cyclone damage, 1918 |
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| A cyclone struck Mackay on 20–21 January 1918. SLQLD |
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| The original Victoria Hotel was destroyed by fire on Friday 3 September 1897. It was rebuilt and badly damaged in the 1918 Cyclone. Mackay, QLD, SLQLD |
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| First Masonic Hall in Mackay, QLD, destroyed by cyclone 1918, SLQLD |
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| Intersection of Sydney and River Streets. Mackay. QLD (QLD floods), Northern Herald (Cairns, Qld. : 1913 - 1939), Thursday 21 February 1918 |
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| THE AUSTRALIAN HOTEL Mackay, QLD, Northern Herald (Cairns, Qld. : 1913 - 1939), Thursday 28 February 1918 (formerly Hodgson's, Digger Bills, Conway's) |
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| Defiance Hotel, Mackay, QLD, Northern Herald (Cairns, Qld. : 1913 - 1939), Thursday 11 April 1918 |
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| "Homebush Mill, Mackay, QLD, - 1919", Vintage QLD |
1920s
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| Metropolitan Hotel, Mackay, QLD, Capricornian (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1875 - 1929), Saturday 2 May 1925 |
In 1925, the foundation Stone of the Church of England Holy Trinity Church in Gordon Street is laid.
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| Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 - 1947), Friday 11 April 1924, |
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| THE DISTILLERY (Mackay, QLD) WAS OPENED BY SENATOR T. W. CRAWFORD (FEDERAL HONORARY MINISTER) ON THURSDAY LAST. Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 - 1947), Tuesday 22 February 1927 |
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| Daily Mercury (Mackay, Qld. : 1906 - 1954), Monday 31 January 1927 |
1930s
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| 208 Sydney Street Mackay, QLD, showing the Former Mackay Town Hall c 1936. Queensland State Archives |
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| Sydney Street, Mackay, QLD, 1936, Queensland State Archives |
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| Mackay harbour opened, QLD, Sunday Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1926 - 1954), Sunday 27 August 1939, |
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| MAC KAY HARVESTS ITS SUGAR CROP, QLD, Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1933 - 1954), Wednesday 30 August 1939 |
1940s and WWII
The Civic Theatre was built in 1940.
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| Premier William Forgan Smith opened the Taylor family's Civic Theatre in Gordon Street on Monday, September 16, 1940. The Civic, which had seating for 1100 patrons, was described by the Premier as 'a masterpiece of modern architecture and worthy of a city as progressive as Mackay'. Mackay, QLD, Mackay Regional Council Libraries |
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| Fields Motors, Mackay. QLD c.1940, Queensland State Archives |
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| Victoria Street, Mackay,QLD, looking west from Wood Street. Buildings from left to right include: Australian Hotel, Lamberts, Mackay Newsagency/Pharmacy, Holmes Buildings.1840s, SLQLD |
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| Mackay Comrades in ArmsFront row. — T. E. Paull, A. Hobday, G. Tutton. E. J. Bowkett. Second row. — R. Tandy, W. M'Vay, S. C. Howitt, E. J. H. Sutton, L. W. Cooper, Lieut. G. T. McK. S. Nisbet, J. R. Smith, L. H. S. Roberts, C. M. Field, W. S. Baker, A. E. Grime's, A. J. Graham. <Third row.— C. B; Webster, J. L. Pittman, W. Horstma,n, E. Sands, W. A. Gooley, V. J. Hayman, R. A. Rump, W. J. Ings, "A. Dickson, A. E. Pearson, G. Hastings. Back row.— T. Croft, D. A. M'Guanc, A. E. Hain, J. W. Anderson, J. Pusch, D. R. Riddcll, P. C. Tait, R. 'A. Brayo. . H. McK.' Davie, F. T . Field, A. H. Gagejg, £. J. Townsend. K. D, 'M'Lennan. This group of men in the A.I.F., taken recently in a N.S. Wales camp, is entirely composed of Mackay boys. It is stated that no less than 1500 volunteers have joined the colors from thisdistrict Daily Mercury (Mackay, Qld. : 1906 - 1954), Tuesday 9 September 1941, |
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| OUR GALLERY OF MACKAYVOLUNTEERS. J. S. Christie (Mackay), J. Holt (Mackay), C. M. Manning (Mackay), J. W. M'Kenzie (Mackay). Daily Mercury (Mackay, Qld. : 1906 - 1954), Tuesday 1 July 1941 |
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Private zoo and museum collections is that of Mr. Barney McGuire, of Mackay, Queensland.Pix. Vol. 8 No. 12 (20 September 1941 |
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| Harbour view in Mackay, Qld - circa 1940s, Aussie Mobs |
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| Mackay, Qld. C. 1943. Interior of a milk bar where sundaes, ice cream sodas and cold fruit drinks were served to American servicemen seated at the counter and at tables. AWM |
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| Daily Mercury (Mackay, Qld. : 1906 - 1954), Monday 1 October 1945 |
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| Iieutenant Chaseley M'Lean, ot Mackay,Q., gives physiotherapy treatment to Pte J. Nettleton at Aitape (New Guinea). Physiotherapists say that in .their work 'they have to be cruel to be kind.Daily Mercury (Mackay, Qld. : 1906 - 1954), Tuesday 20 March 1945 |
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| MACKAY SENIOR TEAM: Winners of the match by 21 points to 8. Townsville Daily Bulletin (Qld. : 1907 - 1954), Thursday 6 June 1946 |
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| Daily Mercury (Mackay, Qld. : 1906 - 1954), Wednesday 11 August 1948, |
1950s
The Olympic Theatre, Gordon Street, Mackay was demolished in 1952.
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| Regal Cinema, Malcolmson Street and Evans Avenue, North Mackay, QLD. Opened on 6th September 1953 and was destroyed by fire in 1979 |
1959, Cyclone "Connie" causes flooding in the Pioneer River.
1960s
In 1960, Mackay State High School opened in Milton Street.
St Patrick's Church was constructed in 1961-63, the fourth to be constructed on the site.
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| Court House, Mackay, QLD, c 1962. The site has been associated with the police and judiciary in Mackay since the 1860s. Queensland State Archives |
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| Mackay Harbour Board building, QLD, c 1964, Queensland State Archives |
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| Wood Street, Mackay, QLD, late 1960s, Vintage QLD |
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| Sydney Street, Mackay, QLD, 1960s?, Vintage QLD |
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| Sugar Research Institute, West Mackay, QLD, 1966, Queensland State Archives |
1970s
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip visited Mackay on April 16 1970.
In 1979, Canelands Shoppingtown opens.
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip visited Mackay on April 16 1970.
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| Mackay Harbour Light, Bagley Point, Mackay, QLD, November 1974, Queensland State Archives |
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| Eimeo Beach, Mackay, QLD, (1976) Queensland State Archives |
1980s
The Mackay Entertainment Centre Officially opened in 1988.
1990s
In 1990, Theatre Royal next to Taylor's Hotel was demolished.
Around Mackay
Queensland’s Heritage and Mining Trail
Around Mackay
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| Queensland National Bank at 79 Victoria Street, Mackay, Mackay Region, Queensland, Australia, was designed by Frederic Herbert Faircloth and constructed by local builder, William Patrick Guthrie, in 1923. |
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| The Mackay Customs House, QLD, was completed in April 1902 |
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| Mackay Court House and MackayPolice Station, QLD, were built from 1886 to 1963 |
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| Originally, The Imperial Hotel built in 1942, Mackay, QLD |
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| Wilkinsons Hotel in Mackay, Queensland, was built by the Guthrie Brothers in 1938 |
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| St Pauls Uniting Church, Mackay, QLD, built: 1897 |
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| Pioneer Shire Council Building I, Mackay, QLD, built 1935 |
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| Art Deco, Mackay, QLD |
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| Hamilton's Building, Mackay, QLD, built 1899 |
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| CWA Rest Rooms were built in 1938, Mackay. QLD |
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| The Mackay City Council approved for the clock to be built at the intersection of Victoria and Wood Streets by April 4, 1953. |
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| McGuires Hotel was completed in 1938, in a Spanish Mission style – described as the “Ritz of the North” when it was built, Mackay, QLD |
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| The original “Federal Hotel” was built in 1911. The name was changed to Hotel Mackay on 19 February 1923. The hotel was destroyed by fire on Wednesday 28 September 1938 and rebuilt. In 1942 the Americans took it over as an officer’s mess, Mackay, QLD |
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| Mackay Masonic Temple at 57 Wood Street, Mackay, QLD, was built in 1924 |