Gordonvale is a rural sugar-growing town and locality situated on the southern side of Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia.[2][3] In the 2021 census, the locality of Gordonvale had a population of 6,944 people.[1]
At Gordonvale in June 1935, the cane toad was introduced in a failed attempt at controlling the native Frenchi beetle and the greyback cane beetle.
The locality is bounded to the south-east by the Mulgrave River. The land is generally flat and low-lying (approx 10 metres (33 ft) above sea level), but on the eastern, southern and western boundaries of the locality the land begins to rise sharply as the locality is surrounded by mountainous terrain formating part of a number of ranges: Islet Hills to the north-west, Lamb Range to the south-west, Bellenden Ker Range to the south, and Thompson Range to the east. The predominant land use in the locality is growing sugarcane.[4]
The town of Gordonvale is on the Mulgrave River and is on the south-eastern edge of the locality. The Mulgrave Sugar Mill is on the western side of the town in Gordon Street.[4]
The Bruce Highway enters the locality from the south-east (Aloomba), bypasses the town centre to the west and then proceeds north to exit to Wrights Creek.[4]
The North Coast railway line enters the locality from the south-east (Aloomba), passes through the town and then travels north through the locality to exit to Wrights Creek.[4][5] The town is served by the Gordonvale railway station which is located immediately adjacent to the sugar mill. The Kamma railway siding is just prior to the exit to Wrights Creek. The former Meringa railway station in the centre of the locality has been abandoned.[5] There is an extensive network of cane tramways through the locality and beyond that deliver harvested sugarcane to the Mulgrave Sugar Mill.[4]
British settlement began in 1877 with William Saunders Alley and Mr Blackwell and their families who cut a road through to Trinity Inlet so they could haul out cedar logs. It was called Plain Camp by Alley.[7]
In the Cairns area, a Chinese businessman, Andrew Leon, built the first sugar mill in 1882, named Pioneer Mill, and established the Hap Wah Plantation on 612 acres (2.48 km2) of land.[citation needed]
In 1890, the area became known as Mulgrave after the Mulgrave River.[7] In 1896 it was named Nelson, named after Queensland Premier Sir Hugh Muir Nelson.[8] However this caused postal confusion with Nelson in New South Wales. On 24 January 1914 the town was officially renamed Gordonvale after John Gordon, a pioneer in the district who was a butcher, dairyman and grazier, and early director of Mulgrave Central sugar mill.[2][3]
Mulgrave State School opened on 15 March 1897.[9] In 1914 it was renamed Gordonvale State School. On 28 March 1924 it became Gordonvale Rural School. In 1963 a secondary school department was added until a permanent secondary school was established, in 1965. On 1 January 1965 the primary school was renamed back to Gordonvale State School.[10]
St Alphonsus Catholic School was established in Muir Street in 1923 by the Sisters of Mercy.[10][13] It was officially opened on Sunday 15 April 1923 by BishopJohn Heavey.[14] A special excursion train was provided for people wishing to attend the ceremony.[15] In December 1959 it was replaced by the St Michael's Catholic Primary School and the former school building became a parish hall. The Sisters of Mercy ended their involvement with the school in 1990 and it now operates under lay leadership.[16][17]
Little Mulgrave State School opened on 26 July 1926 and closed on 21 February 1964.[10]
Cane toads (Bufo marinus) were deliberately introduced into Australia in an attempt to control the native Frenchi beetle (Lepidiotafrenchi) and the greyback cane beetle (Dermolepida albohirtum) whose larvae (colloquially known as "cane grubs") were destroying sugar cane crops in North Queensland. In June 1935 the Queensland Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations imported 102 cane toads (Bufo marinus) into Gordonvale from Hawaii in June 1935 (with one dying in transit due to dehydration) in the belief that the toads would eat the cane beetles, a pest in the sugarcane industry. By March 1937 some 62,000 toadlets had been bred and distributed into sugar cane fields up and down the Queensland coast. The experiment did not work and the toads have spread throughout much of Australia.[21]
During World War II, a contingent of approximately 3,000 American paratroopers was stationed in Gordonvale and did their training there for their missions in New Guinea. The American Army commandeered some of the town's hotels to use as hospitals as many troops were injured during this training. Quite a number of local women were employed to do parachute packing.[citation needed]
On 26 October 1964 Senior Constable Desmond Trannore was shot attending a domestic disturbance.[27][28]
In the 1990s, a number of mosaics were commissioned by the "Friends of Gordonvale" commemorating through imagery the original businesses and shops in the town. These mosaics were cemented permanently within the footpaths directly outside the original sites of the businesses.[29]
Gordonvale was located within the Shire of Mulgrave until its amalgamation with the City of Cairns in 1995. The City was subsequently merged into the larger Cairns Region in 2008.
On 27 October 2014, the Cairns Seventh Day Adventist School moved to purpose-built premises in Gordonvale and was renamed Cairns Adventist College. It originally opened as a primary school on 6 February 1950 in the Cairns CBD. It later[when?] moved to premises at the Cairns Seventh Day Adventist Church at 302 Gatton Street, Manunda.[33][34]
Djarragun College is a private primary and secondary (Prep–12) day and boarding school for predominantly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander boys and girls at 1 Maher Road (17°04′48″S145°46′35″E / 17.0799°S 145.7763°E / -17.0799; 145.7763 (Djarragun College)).[41][46] Opened in 2001, in 2018, the school had an enrolment of 308 students with 25 teachers and 47 non-teaching staff (41 full-time equivalent).[43] About 25% of the students are boarders coming from the Torres Strait Islands, Cape York Peninsula, and remote areas in Queensland and the Northern Territory.[47] The school's mission is "to develop proud, strong, educated Indigenous men and women, who walk confidently in two worlds, to be leaders, and to be role models for their families and communities".[46]
Gordonvale State High School is a government secondary (7–12) school for boys and girls at 85 Sheppards Street (17°05′19″S145°46′42″E / 17.0887°S 145.7783°E / -17.0887; 145.7783 (Gordonvale State High School)), opened in 1965.[41][48] In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 793 students with 73 teachers (69 full-time equivalent) and 40 non-teaching staff (30 full-time equivalent).[43] It includes a special education program.[41] When it opened, it took over the secondary department of Gordonvale State School.[9][10]
The Mulgrave News, "Letting the local people know." is the local independent monthly suburban. It covers local news, real estate, classifieds and more.[citation needed]
Pyramid Views also runs in Gordonvale, delivering local news, advertisements for local businesses, real estate listings and public interest stories.[57]
Sport
Pyramid Power AFL Club competed in the AFL Cairns competition. The Power had sides in the Under 8 through to Under 18, as well as a Senior Women's side. The home ground for Pyramid Power was at Power Park on Maher Road.[58]
Attractions
Operating since 1896, the Mulgrave Sugar Mill is located near the town centre in Gordon St. The mill services about 300 sugarcane farms in the local region and operates during the 'crush' season (about six months of the year).[citation needed]
The Mulgrave Settlers Museum is across Gordon Street from the mill.[59] It is operated by the Mulgrave Shire Historical Society. The museum has a number of historical items donated from the local community and displays that represent the early gold miners, cedar cutters, Chinese workers and packers (mule train suppliers to the Atherton Tableland). The museum is open Monday to Saturday from 10AM to 2PM.[60][61]
^ ab"Our Area". Mulgrave Settlers Museum. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
^"The Brisbane Courier". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. LII, no. 11, 961. Queensland, Australia. 15 May 1896. p. 4. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^"CAIRNS NEWS". Daily Standard. No. 1011. Queensland, Australia. 1 April 1916. p. 5 (SECOND EDITION). Retrieved 9 March 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
^"New School for Gordonvale". The Northern Herald. Vol. XXXVIII, no. 494. Queensland, Australia. 20 September 1922. p. 5. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 6 December 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Advertising". Cairns Post. Vol. XXXV, no. 4545. Queensland, Australia. 11 April 1923. p. 2. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 6 December 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Our History". St Michael's Catholic Primary School. 28 March 2012. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
^"EDUCATION SYSTEM PRAISED". The Courier-mail. No. 275. Queensland, Australia. 16 July 1934. p. 15. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^"GORDONVALE CATHOLIC CHURCH". Cairns Post. No. 10, 288. Queensland, Australia. 28 January 1935. p. 6. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.