Mossman & District

The Kuku Yalanji have inhabited this area for at least 9000 years. The rock scarp on Mt Demi above Mossman is called ‘Kubidi’ or Goobidi’. Missionaries called it The Good Shepherd. Kubidi is the spirit who protects the people of the Mossman Valley and who taught the Bama people how to survive in this area. Their name for Mt Demi is Manjal Dimbi, meaning “mountain holding back”.

Settlements in the Mossman area include Shannonvale, Rocky Point, Wonga Beach, Newell Beach, Cooya Beach, Somerset, Miallo and Whyanbeel. The Indigenous community of Mossman Gorge is located about 1.5km from the township of Mossman.

The Douglas Shire Council’s offices are in Mossman and the main industry is growing sugar cane, processed at the Mossman Central Mill in the town.

1847-1848

Dayman Point, also called Rocky Point, was named for Lieutenant Joseph Dayman of the Royal Navy who served on the survey ship HMS Rattlesnake during its exploration of northern Australia.

1873

James Venture Mulligan discovered payable gold inland on the Palmer River and a gold rush began with Cooktown as the entry point.

Dec 6 / George Augustus Frederick Elphinstone Dalrymple named the Mosman River (later changed to Mossman) for Hugh Mosman while searching for a suitable port for the Palmer River goldfield.

He also named Mt Beaufort and Wyanbeel (sic) Point, one of the few indigenous names he used. He named the low jungle range the Heights of Victory, and the Heights of Dagmar because it reminded him of the Dagmar Cross and the Heights of Alexandra.

With the help of Native Police patrols, European settlement expanded along the coastal belt, and extensive areas of lowland rainforest were cleared.

1874

Dan Hart, with his seven men, cut 40,000 superfeet of red cedar along the Mossman River. He was born in Jamaica, well educated and came down from Cooktown in about 1873.

1875

Eventually Dan Hart gave up cedar-getting and settled on the banks of the Mossman River, probably with his half-brother Kon Keen (or Con Kee). He was the first non-indigenous settler in the Mossman district although at that time he did not have tenure.

Jun 6 / Queensland became a separate state from New South Wales.

1877

Mar / Land selection in Mossman was proclaimed in the Government Gazette.

Sept / The Bump Track opened linking Port Douglas to the inland goldfields.

Walsh and Co’s wharf was built on the Mossman River near Valises’ farm, now part of Bonnie Doon.

Oct / William Thomson selected Portion No.28 on the Mossman River, the first homestead selection applied for and taken up in the area. He grew maize for the Port Douglas teamsters, coffee, coconut trees and mulberry. He was murdered in Oct. 1886. His wife, Ellen, and her supposed lover John Harrison were hanged for the crime.

1878

Mar 5 / Dan Hart finally secured Homestead Selection No.35, which is now the western half of Mossman town stretching to Dan Hart Lane/Grogan Street. His house block was where the caravan park stands. His Jamaican experience helped him pioneer sugar cane growing in the district on his property Coolshade. He was probably the first person to grow cane on a trial basis.

Mossman was first called Hartsville then Mossman (sometimes Mosman) River. Thooleer was an intended township near the port on the river.

Nov 19 / Richard Owen Jones applied for The Cedars selection on the north side of the Mossman River, opposite the present caravan park.

He established a sawmill in Mill Street close to the old National Bank site (now the DAB building), and a rice mill.

Jones and Owen Streets are named for him.

1879

Thomas William Wilson took up Portion 72 of 160 acres. He grew corn, fodder, fruit, dairy cattle and experimented with sugar. He donated two acres for a school and sold, at a reasonable price, most of site for the sugar mill.

Thomas, Wilson, and William Streets are named for him.

Front Street is named as the frontage boundary of Hart’s and Wilson’s properties.

1880

A sailing boat transport service was established between Mossman River, Cairns and Port Douglas by Thomas Wilson and R O Jones.

Dan Hart brought sugar from Mackay and gave some to Jones to try.

Jun 3 / The Douglas Divisional Board was established (gazetted) at Port Douglas, the forerunner of the Douglas Shire Council.

1881

Oct / William Henry Buchanan, a Scot who built Buchanan’s Family Hotel (later the Court House Hotel) in Port Douglas in 1878, selected Portion 114, 400 acres of land on the south bank of the Mossman River which would be suitable for growing sugar cane and named it Bonnie Doon. He died in 1883 leaving six children and wife Annie who married James (Jimmy) Rose in 1887

1882

William Samuel Johnston, or Sam or Samuel, from County Londonderry, selected Drumsara, named after the township where he, and his brother John Dorrens were born, in Ireland. Shortly before his death on 10 Nov 1924 Drumsara became the Drumsara Sugar Company in which he and his 8 daughters and 4 sons all had shares.

Yorkshireman John Pringle and his wife Bridget settled in Mossman at Fairymount, Portion 135, growing rice and maize for the teamsters prior to planting sugar cane. Because of the lack of a sugar industry in 1886 John mortgaged his land and it was let out to Chinese. He died on Jan 20 1901 aged 57 and is buried in Port Douglas cemetery beside his wife Bridget who died 2 Nov 1896 aged 38.

Jun 15 / Mrs Harriet Parker, a wealthy Melbourne investor, selected her Parker’s Creek 2 square mile estate Brie Brie, named after the property she came from near Warrnambool, Victoria.

1883

A sugar mill was erected on the Brie Brie estate adjoining Dan Hart’s and Tom Wilson’s selections. The first crushing was on 5 Sept 1884 but the mill was not successful and closed in 1888.

Mango Park, portions 198 and 206, was established by John Dorrens Johnston, older brother of William Samuel (Sam) Johnston of Drumsara. In 1896 he was growing 100 acres of cane, also coffee, mangoes, granadillas and other tropical fruit. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Mill from its inception in 1895 until his death on Aug 22 1916, aged 79.

May / Sydney Algernon Barnard and his brother Frederick William took up portions 212 and 219, parish of Whyanbeel over the Mossman River, near Finlayvale. They named it Booroondarra. They came from Melbourne and farms of that era usually had a name.

Jun 22 / Mail service no.262 began operating – a weekly trip made by water from Port Douglas to what was then called the Mossman River where a Receiving Office was opened under the care of Mr R.O. Jones (merchant). The name was shortened from Mossman River to Mossman in 1899. It was made an official post office in 1910.

1885

With the introduction of the Pacific Islanders Act, no Kanakas were to be imported after 1890. This would deal a severe blow to the sugar industry, so the Act was amended in 1893 and extended until 1900. It was enforced by the Commonwealth Government in 1904 to take effect from March 1904. Land was owned by the whites but cleared and worked by Chinese, Hindu (Indian), Punjabi, Japanese and Kanaka labour.

Mar 13 / Sydney Barnard was clearing a track on his property Booroondarra, when he was speared by aborigines and died aged 23. It’s believed he may have felled a sacred tree on an aboriginal walking track. A ‘posse’ pursued the aborigines and many were killed. He is buried in the Port Douglas cemetery.

Robert McLean built the Caledonian hotel near the Mossman River, the first hotel in the town.

1885-1904

George Low Choy harvested cane in Mossman and supplied labour. He was moved out of the industry by a law passed in 1901 by Mossman Mill preventing Chinese having shares, deciding to pay two shillings less for Chinese cane.

The maize output on the Mossman was 1500 tons. Rice was being cultivated extensively at the Mowbray, Mossman, and Daintree as it paid considerably better.

1887

R.O. Jones built the first rice mill at The Cedars. About 200 Chinese, who had been offered two acres each as tenants by Jones and Dan Hart when they left the goldfields in 1878, were rice growers and had cleared large areas of land.

1888

Brie Brie failed, and with it went the hopes of settlers of lesser means who had eagerly awaited the outcome of the first local sugar milling experiment.

1893

Queensland’s McIlwraith Government passed the Sugar Works Guarantee Act, allowing growers to mortgage their land to the Government to build a co-operative mill.

Sept 1 / Farmers met to form the Mossman River Central Mill League. J D Johnston was elected Chairman and R.O. Jones secretary. The League eventually became the Mossman Central Mill Company Ltd.

1894

Dec 4 / The Mossman (this spelling) Central Mill Co Ltd was registered in Brisbane.

Mullavey’s Mowbray Hotel was transported to Mossman after Fred Jensen bought it. He renamed it the Royal Hotel.

1895

Raymond D. Rex and Mr Hawson developed Nayne (Richmond) on the Little Mossman and grew sugar.

Mar / Thomson Lowe selected Section 204 of 160 acres which he called Shannonvale.

Thomas William Crawford arrived to manage the run down Brie Brie estate with his brother Robert and brothers-in-law the Muntz brothers from Victoria.

George Kearsley, had a hotel, probably unlicenced, at Cassowary cutting when the tramway was being built from Mossman to Port Douglas,

1896

Sep / The ship Westfield arrived with machinery for the Mill. It was taken from the Thooleer landing on a horse tramway to the mill site, on the especially built tram line.

Tick Fever, or Redwater, appeared in cattle herds of the district.

The Mossman River Receiving Office was elevated to an unofficial Mossman Post Office. Mrs Thomas Wilson was the first post mistress. Previously R O Jones’ home was the receiving centre.

F W Buchanan built the single-storey Exchange Hotel in Mossman for Denis O’Brien, who also started the North Australian Hotel (now the Central) in Port Douglas in 1878. His wife Teresa managed both hotels

O’Brien selected Finlayvale where he planted sugar cane.

The two-storied Queens Hotel was built by F W Barnard for Mick Tyrell, the first licensee from 1896-1898,

Oct 9 / The first Port Douglas and Mossman Gazette newspaper was published. Vol 1 No 1 included a story about Mr T Lowe who had 60 acres under cane on his 160 acre selection.

Tom Crawford and Muntz brothers bought Brie Brie in equal shares.

There were many indentured Chinese labourers in the cane fields. They also grew bananas near Finlayvale.

1897

Aug 23 / The Mossman Sugar Mill commenced. It is the most northerly mill in Australia. The first cane to be crushed was from Annie Rose’s Bonnie Doon. There were 200 Kanakas cutting cane as well as Chinese.

A two-foot gauge tram network was constructed to convey cane to the mill. It also carried passengers and freight. The crushed sugar was taken by rail to the Thooleer wharf on the Mossman River and from there by lighter to Port Douglas for shipment.

Foxton Bridge, a low level wooden structure, was built over the North Mossman River and named after Justin F G Foxton, Lands Minister in the Queensland Liberal Government,

After the Mill opened, Walsh and Co opened a branch store in Mossman, managed by Tom Walsh.

The Cedars cemetery on the Mossman-Daintree Road began with the first internment being W E Richards, father-in-law of R O Jones, who died on Dec 19. There was no cemetery in Mossman.

1898

Jan 1 / The Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897, was enacted. To action this, the offices of Northern Protector of Aboriginals and Southern Protector of Aboriginals were created. There were 113 documented removals from the Mossman Gorge area. People were removed to settlements including Yarrabah, Mona Mona, Palm Island, Woorabinda, Cherbourg and Cape Bedford.

Jan 31 / The Mossman River State School No 167 opened with Mr Thomas Garland as head teacher and an average of 75 pupils.

The Anglican parish was formed under the leadership of Rev. Benjamin Dore Bryant. Dan Hart donated an allotment and a simple wooden church was built there.

Rugby Union started in Mossman.

John Ryan’s Hotel, a single-storey galvanised iron hotel built in the late 1870s was moved from Craiglie by George Kearsley and renamed The Mossman. It was on the site of McLean’s Caledonian Hotel of 1885.

1899

Feb / The Court of Petty Sessions began to process minor matters without a jury. It dealt with petty criminal cases and land, hotel, traffic, civil and family matters.

May 29 / On Trinity Sunday the timber St David’s Anglican church was dedicated. It was destroyed in the 1911 cyclone and eventually replaced by the stone St David’s.

Jul / The Mossman Sugar Milling Co. commenced a rail passenger service from Mossman to South Mossman, a distance of 2½ miles.

Aug 7 / A telegraph station was opened in Mossman with a telephone station at the post office. The name was shortened from Mossman River to Mossman.

1900

A Government grant of £22,000 (Pounds) was given to build extension to the rail line from the Mossman Sugar Mill to the small Tramway wharf in Port Douglas. There was one tram each way daily. The journey time was 74 minutes.

Oct 8 / Dan Hart died at Coolshade aged 83 and was buried on his property beside the river. His headstone is thought to have been washed away but the site is near the present Mossman caravan park.

Late Dec / The Methodist Church opened in Front Street. Rev J Prowse of Cairns preached the opening sermon on Jan 8 1901. In 1903 a Parsonage was built.

Dec 28 / A Receiving Office of the Queensland National Bank was opened under the control of the Port Douglas branch, with visits made weekly.

1901

Jan 1 / Federation. The Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed

One of the first Acts of the Commonwealth Parliament was the prohibition of entry of Pacific Islanders after 31 March 1904 and provided for deportation at the end of 1906.

Messrs Williams and Alley, of Kenneth Vale were the pioneers of a pig industry having started the industry two years earlier. The output was about 1200 for the year.

The aggregate amount of cane crushed for the season was about 51,000 tons, a record output for the Central Mills of the colony. The raw sugar produced at the mill for the season was 6000 tons.

Jun / Jack and Newell’s store started trading in Mossman.

The Douglas Divisional Board provided a locomotive Faugh-a-Ballagh and two passenger cars for the rail service which increased to two return services each day, Mossman to Port Douglas.

The population grew to 6,000 in the district. According to the Post Office Directory there were 42 farmers and selectors, a sugar mill, three hotels, a school, two stores, a baker, butcher, blacksmith, 2 carpenters and a contractor.

The newspaper was the Port Douglas & Mossman Record, managed by James Coker.

1902

Jan / An extension to the cane tramway connecting Mowbray to the Mossman Central Mill was opened.

Early 1900s

There were small Chinese general stores along Front Street. Sun Wo Lee and George Ah Queen were still there in the 1930s. Tommy Kum Yuen ran his store there with his wife Lum See from 1914 till 1923. He was the largest Chinese sugarcane planter in the district.

1903

Mar 30 / The Douglas Shire Council was created, replacing the Douglas Divisional Board.

Jul / There was a severe outbreak of fever, largely as a consequence of abnormal rainfall, resulting in 5 deaths

Tattersalls Hotel was built in Mill Street and managed by Mr Hayes. It became the Post Office Hotel when Richard (Dick) Lunn took over in 1909.

The Mossman Anglican Parish built a Rectory on land (lot 15) adjacent to St David's.

The Methodist parsonage was built.

1904

The Douglas Shire Council constructed a new larger wharf at Port Douglas to handle general cargo and later for the storage and shipment of bagged sugar. Opening in 1905 it was known as the Sugar Wharf. The passenger timetable increased to three trips daily with one trip on Sundays.

The Mossman Cooperative Butchering Company was formed. In Pugh’s Almanac of this year, Mossman was not even listed as a town.

1905

Dec / The first mass in St Augustine’s Catholic Church in Junction Road.

1906-1908

Australia repatriated many Kanakas to their places of origin under the provisions of the Pacific Island Labourers Act 1901. They had been brought from the Pacific Islands, especially Vanuatu,

1906

The first Italian labouring gang was employed at Bonnie Doon.

A bridge was built over Bamboo Creek to serve the Saltwater area.

Mossman Mill was the first Australian mill to crush over 100,000 tons in a season in 1906.

1907

Following many people being affected by a mild form of plague in 1906, 60% of the cane was burned before cutting.

The sale of opium was banned. It had been readily available in Mossman and Port Douglas as a dutiable item.

Rev Edward Taffs MA, who had been inducted as rector of St David’s Church on June 19 1904, bought the triangular piece of land where the Mossman market and Raintrees now stand. He built the reading room for the South Sea Islanders (or Kanakas) so that they could have a place for relaxation apart from ‘public houses’.

1908

Raymond Rex began taking weather observations at his official weather station No. 031055, Richmond Plantation, South Mossman, measuring daily rainfall and forwarding these figures to the Commonwealth Meteorological Bureau in Melbourne once a month.

1909

Sep 1 / An official post office was established with F. C. Montgomery as Postmaster.

Dick Lunn with wife Dolly bought the lease of Tattersalls Hotel in Mill Street and renamed it the Post Office Hotel.

1910

The railway station was opposite the Exchange Hotel, where the library is today.

Jun 17 / There was a Vice Regal visit on the Queensland Government yacht Lucinda

Sep 13 / Popular Australian vocalist Gladys Moncrieff appeared at Lunn's new Coronation Hall next to his Port Office Hotel.

1911

Mar 16 / A cyclone, the second in five weeks. The Exchange Hotel, Callaghan Walsh’s store, the Mossman Butcher shop and Lunn’s Coronation Hall were damaged as well as many homes and farms. The Catholic and Anglican timber churches were destroyed. The Mill was badly damaged and the manager’s quarters and men’s quarters were destroyed. Two people were killed in Port Douglas

Jun / The first section of the extension of the tramway to Cassowary was opened.

Oct 20 - 21 / Lunn's Hall. Verto’s Pictures presented "The Trail of the Pomas Charm". This was one of the first films shown in Port Douglas and Mossman.

Oct 20 / The Miallo School began, constructed from timbers from the Rutherford dairy house which had blown down in the cyclone. The teacher was Mrs Ethel Taylor with 13 pupils.

Telephone directory listings were Hospital Surgery 5, Mossman Sugar Mill 2, Public Telephone 6, Tramway Station 3.

1912

Feb 11 / The second St Augustine’s Catholic church was opened on the same Junction Road site as the first one that was destroyed in the 1911 cyclone.

May / Construction of the stone church, St David’s, began.

Aug 20 / The Northern Photo Play Company showed the dramatic film “Love and Friendship” This is probably the beginning of the Photo Play cinema, one of the first in Australia.

1913

Feb 3 / Cassowary State School opened with 20 pupils and teacher Miss Rose Jane Hasenkamp, The school closed in 1967.

World War I (1914-1918)

During the war, Mrs Letitia Jones, wife of R O Jones, founded the Red Cross Society in Mossman. After the war she retired and her daughter Gwendoline Rex became President for over 30 years.

1915

The first motor car in the district, ordered by Mr R Lunn, had several very successful runs round the district. He set up Mossman’s first garage with hand-operated bowsers.

Jul 2 / Funeral of Conkeane Aged 83, thought to be half brother of Dan Hart, and inherited his land, then bequeathed it to Irene Taffs, daughter of Rev Taffs

1916

Mossman Gorge was gazetted as a government reserve of 64 acres. J.D. (Jack) Johnston of Mango Park had donated the land and insisted it become a reserve for the local aboriginal community.

1918

The Mossman sub-branch of the Returned Services League of Australia (RSL) was formed. Members met in an old premise where the Mossman Bowls car park is located.

Kerosene had almost petered out, and candles were being largely used. Most of the hotels were lit up with Delco-light, or acetylene gas, and Lunn's Hall was always supplied with electric light.

1920s

The business centre began to move from Port Douglas to Mossman near the sugar mill.

1920

Feb 2 / Another cyclone hit damaging a number of businesses and houses in the district. Most were reconstructed.

The Mill leased land for the School of Arts and made a donation to purchase books. The library operated from these premises at the end of Mill Street until a new library was built on the site of the old tramway station to celebrate the district’s centenary in 1977.

1921

A Queensland Ambulance Transport Board (QTAB) was established. A building was rented near the National Bank in Mill Street for headquarters.

The Saltwater Creek bridge was decked for road traffic.

1923

Oct 28 / A branch of the Queensland National Bank opened in Mossman in Mill Street. A receiving office had opened in 1900.

1924

Mar / The first continuous telephone service was inaugurated.

Jun 28 / The disused Queensland National Bank building in Port Douglas was moved to Mossman to became the Queensland Ambulance Transport Brigade building. This building was replaced and removed by the Fapani family to Newell beach to become two flats in 1962.

1925

26 Feb / A cyclone crossed the coast between Cooktown and Cairns. At Mossman several small buildings were unroofed though most damage was done to the sugar cane which was flattened.

Golf was first played at Drumsara.

The Whyanbeel tram line was extended. The Council reported that for the year ended 31st Dec 1925, the trams carried 156,850 passengers.

1927

There were 148 cane growers in the Mossman area.

The Mossman Butchering Company built their factory in Mossman. it provided butchering with refrigeration, baking, ice-making and electricity for street lighting. Established by T Kilpatrick, W.H. Buchanan and Lucas Hughes in timber premises on the present site. In 1928, a new reinforced concrete and wood premises was constructed around the timber building, the first ferro-concrete building in Mossman.

Motor traffic began to affect the patronage of trams and timetables were reduced on all lines.

1929

Jim Holdsworth moved to Cooya Beach, then called Ives Beach. He worked for the Mill for 58 years 1917-1974 as a 'sewer' of bags. There is a park named for him.

Feb 26 / A cyclone crossed the coast near Mossman, and a man drowned in the Mossman River on Feb 28.

Jun 27 / A branch of the National Bank of Australasia, NBA, opened in Mossman It closed in 1943 during the war rationalisation scheme and did not reopen until the merger with the Queensland National Bank on Jan 1, 1948.

The Catholic church purchased the Grogan Street site because the Junction Road site could not accommodate the planned parish school.

1930

Aug 23 / A new hospital was opened in Mossman. Its Spanish Mission style makes it one of Mossman’s most distinctive buildings. It was entered on the Queensland Heritage Register 12 June 2009. Number 602713

Sep 14 / The ‘shift-over’ of patients and staff took place from Port Douglas Hospital to Mossman Hospital with 9 patients.

The Miallo school building was erected.

Oct 21 / The first death recorded at the new Mossman Hospital was of Thomas James O’Brien, who had been the first white boy born at Port Douglas in Dec 1877.

The Mossman Gorge Mission was managed by Pentecostal missionary Sister Isabella Hetherington. A small school and church were built at the mission.

1931

Jan 15 / Four premises in Front Street were destroyed by fire. The occupiers were Mrs. Chan Lee, dressmaker; Xiradis Cafe, John J O'Callaghan, agent; and Viner, tinsmith.

Jan 23 / The Post Office Hotel burnt down. A temporary bar was erected. It was rebuilt in 1932.

Feb 19 / 9.30pm The Royal Hotel burnt down. The hotel was one of the oldest in Mossman. The building was owned by Mrs. Jensen. It was rebuilt as a two-storey building in 1932

May 5 / The opening of the Mossman Talkies at the Photo Play theatre.

1932

The Great Depression.

Jun / The rebuilt concrete Post Office Hotel opened.

Dec 11 / The new parish priest Fr Joseph Vignoles had a Catholic presbytery built in Grogan Street. He was the first priest to reside in Mossman,

Dec 10 / The Northern Herald reported the police station and court house were nearing completion.

1933

The Mossman to Daintree road was completed with Finnish road workers.

May / R D Rex became Chairman of the Douglas Shire Council. He was a Councillor and Chairman of the Shire for a total of 42 years.

This was a very wet year with 110 inches of rain and an epidemic of influenza. 8 people died.

The Bonnie Doon bridge (now Junction River bridge) was decked for road traffic.

May 14 / St Augustine’s in Junction Road was closed and Mass was celebrated under the new presbytery in Grogan Street until the Church-School was opened on Apr 29, 1934.

Dec 17 / The official opening of the Cook Highway at Hartley's Creek The road ran along the coast between Cairns and Mossman, bypassing Port Douglas.

Mid 1930s / The Dark Pool on the Mossman River just upstream from Foxton Bridge, was the focal point for swimmers, coached by Frank O’Rourke senior.

1934

Feb 5 / Catholic Primary education commenced in Mossman with the opening of St Augustine’s by the Sisters of Mercy. The Catholic Church constructed a convent, church, school and presbytery in Mossman in one year. Classes were held under the presbytery until the new Church/School building was opened on 29 April. 70 students were enrolled.

Mar 12 / A cyclone blew the top storey off the Exchange Hotel. (The current building dates from 1935.) At Cooya Beach the tidal wave was 16 ft high and engulfed 15 houses. Although buildings became unroofed damage at Port Douglas was slight. Five pearling luggers were lost and 53 drowned off Cape Tribulation. Over eleven inches fell in the.24 hours

Jun 12 / A shop owned by Wong Kee at Mossman was destroyed by fire. The loud explosion of fireworks wakened residents.

Jun 21 / The first meeting of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes in a plumber's shed behind the Post Office Hotel.

1935

Dec 24 / The passenger rail service between Port Douglas and Mossman was discontinued.

The Mossman branch of the CWA was formed. Its hall was built in 1963.

Phil Lunn purchased the garage business from his father Dick.

Arthur Zillfliesch and Tom Booth contracted to build the National Bank of Australasia in Mill Street. Used by the Douglas Arts Base since 2002.

1936

Feb 22 / The stone was laid for the new Shire offices in Mill Street Mossman, making it the administrative centre of the Douglas Shire instead of Port Douglas. The adjacent town hall was a favourite venue for Saturday night dances. Officially opened 9 June 1937.

Dec / Jack & Newells new store of reinforced concrete was completed, with plate glass windows in front. It sold grocery, hardware, spare parts, drapery and general merchandise.

About 1936 new nurses' quarters were erected just inside the hospital entrance.

Sydney H Turner, aged 19, opened his first store in Mossman in partnership with Robert Lee Hearn. Later in the same year he opened a store in Cairns selling and repairing ‘wireless sets’

Mossman was connected to a water supply.

1937

The Council built a branch tramline into the Whyanbeel Valley.

May 11 / First council meeting in Mossman shire office.

Dec 4 / First burial in Mossman Cemetery was Alfio Musumeci , followed by Duncan Macrae the next day.

1938

The Cassowary cutting and a new bridge over Cassowary Creek were completed by the Main Roads Dept.

An Assembly of God church was built at Mossman Gorge

Power came to Mossman from 2 hydro units set up on Rex’s Creek at the Mossman Gorge

WWII 1939-1945

The US 2/15 Engineers began the Rex Highway over the range to Mt Molloy. The highway was completed in 1949 by the Queensland Government although not fully bituminised until 1983. Named after R D Rex, chairman of the Shire at the time.

Over 100 men were involved with the V.D.C. (Voluntary Detachment Corps. Some were involved in coast watching. Others were responsible for intelligence and their investigation resulted in some local residents from overseas being interned. Red Cross and the C.W.A. in Mossman and Port Douglas sent comforts to the troops overseas. Air Raid Wardens made sure no lights were visible from houses. The Douglas Shire Voluntary Air Observers Corps (V.A.O.C.) identified lost planes. There were numerous aircraft crashes in our district.

1939

The 1887 Act and all of its amending Acts were replaced by “The Aboriginal Preservation and Protection Act 1939”.

The Rocky Point school opened with 42 children at five desks, and Kevin Whouley as the first teacher

1942

Early / The Miallo School closed when people were evacuated because of fear of Japanese invasion.

May 4–8 / Battle of the Coral Sea off the coast between Townsville and Horn Island.

Jul 31 / A bomb was dropped on the Zullo farm, eight miles north of Mossman. Now a monument, erected 1992, marks the spot.

The Mossman Fire Brigade started in the Exchange Hotel’s sample room.

1943

Sister Hetherington, aged 73, with one assistant, was still in charge of the Mossman Gorge Mission. She died in Mossman Hospital on Aug 31 1946, aged 75, and was buried in Mossman cemetery.

After WWII

Two sawmills in Mossman were run by W. McDowall and George Quaid and his son as the Mossman Logging Company

1946

The Queensland Government established the Cairns Regional Electricity Board, (CREB) taking over from the Barron River Hydro Board.

Nov / Dick Lunn sold the Photoplay cinema to Far Northern Theatres.

1947

The old low level Foxton Bridge over the Mossman River was replaced by a higher level timber bridge. This was replaced in 1997 by an even higher level bridge.

1948

Jan 5 / A letter delivery service started from the Post Office.

Petrol and clothing rationing ceased after WW II.

1949

Jan 1 / The Mossman Fire station was officially opened by R D Rex.

Jan 2 / The Rex Highway up to Mt Molloy and Mareeba was officially opened.

1950

There was a racecourse where the Newell Beach Golf club is now.

May 15 / Rev.Taffs of St David’s parish died, aged 90, in Mossman Hospital. He is buried in the Port Douglas cemetery.

1950s

Vince Brischetto and Victor Bertoncini owned the only 2 taxies in the shire, operating from Mossman. Vince operated the taxies for 35 years.

1951

Oct / Baker and McMaster of Cairns won the tender to complete St David’s church after plans were redrafted to include a simpler and less expensive gabled roof. Three blocks of land nearby were sold.

Dec 12 / The Post Office was opened by Shire Chairman R D Rex on its new site in Front Street.

1952

The first Mossman Show. The Victor Crees pavilion was completed in 1953, named for the first president of the Show Society.

1953

The larger RSL Memorial Hall was opened.

Jun 2 / Coronation Day for Queen Elizabeth II. Coronation Park at Mossman Showgrounds was named in her honour.

1954

Mar 13 / Verri’s store was opened in Front Street. John Verri was a local Mossman businessman who ran a farm machinery business. Now the site of Lifeline.

May / Power was connected to Mossman from a hydro system at Barron Gorge via Mt Molloy.

1955

Feb 1 / The Mossman Secondary Department (high school) opened in the QCWA Hall with 9 students. The Principal was Mr E. L. Messer.

M & G Lemura’s and Bartolo’s stores were built in Front Street.

The Mossman Rotary Club began with foundation president Bill Reese.

Mill Manager LJF Prince had two-way radios fitted to cane inspectors’ vehicles and the diesel, and later the steam, engines.

McDowall’s Mossman Hotel was rebuilt.

May 3 / A post office opened at Newell Beach so residents could collect their mail. The store received mail until 2017 but there is still a post box there.

1956

Jun 29 / Far Northern Theatres replaced the aging PhotoPlay (which had been condemned in 1954 after operating for 44 years) and opened its new theatre The Rex at 5 Mill Street.

Mar 6 / Cyclone Agnes unroofed part of the laundry block and a covered walkway of the Mossman Hospital. Pressure 961. It was the first named cyclone.

1957

A new Masonic Temple was rebuilt on the original site.

Mossman District Canegrowers Co-operative Society Ltd began in a small wooden store at the end of Mill Street to supply goods and services to farmers and the local community.

Nov 16 / The new brick Methodist church opened. The old timber church had been pushed to the back of the block in 1956 and was now used as the church hall. It became the Mossman Uniting Church in 1977.

1958

Last rail transportation of sugar to the wharf in Port Douglas. Thereafter the cargo was sent by road from the mill to the Cairns Bulk Sugar Terminal.

10 aboriginal children from the Gorge Mission attended Mossman State School.

The ANZ Bank opened in McDowall’s building. It is now Yum Yum’s fruit shop.

1959

Jan 1 / The Council transferred ownership of the tramlines to the Mill Company.

The Capt. Cook Highway was widened to two lanes and sealed.

1960

The Mill first experimented with the Massey Fergusson chopper harvester, a mechanical cane harvester.

Jun 11 / A new Rectory next to St David’s church was blessed and opened. The old Rectory was moved to become the parish hall. Today this is the 'op shop' at Mossman's Saturday markets.

The first Seventh Day Adventist came to Mossman and a small group began meeting in the RAOB and then the CWA Hall.

Fred Bell Jnr subdivided the Old Wonga Esplanade blocks off his cane farm. Power was also connected in 1960. Wonga means water as the only way you could get there was by water.

Mossman Gorge Mission was home to 69 people including 38 children.

1961

Aug 14 / Far Northern Theatres sold The Rex to Walter and Lily Plemenuk who stayed until 1973.

Link to Walter and Lily Plemenuk in Cinemas

1962

Sep 8 / The Daintree Mission was auctioned after most of the Aboriginal residents had been moved to Mossman Gorge Community.

CREB extended electricity to Rocky Point.

1963

The new Mossman ambulance station and residence opened.

The CWA Hall was built at 28 Front St.

The Mossman Golf Club changed its name from Drumsara and was established on land that had been used as a horse racing track on the corner of Newell Beach Road.

1964

The Mossman Gorge section of the Daintree National Park was declared a National Park.

Jack and Newell's Weekly News, produced on duplicated foolscap sheets of advertisements and articles by manager Charlie Jenkin and accountant Jack Crimmins commenced and continued until 1975.

Mar / The Barnards sold the old Photoplay building to Jack Fischer a builder, who ran a Foodland supermarket in the building for over 20 years.

1965

Mar 31 / R D (Raymond David) Rex died aged 91. He is buried in the family plot on their property on Mossman/Daintree Road. RD was Chairman of the Douglas Shire Council from 1933-1955.

Mar. John Anich opened his chemist shop in Front Street with wife Annette. The shop was sold in 1997. John continued working there until his retirement in 2010 aged 77.

Mid 1960s

The Mossman congregation of the Jehovah's Witnesses was formed.

1966

Mar 14 / 3.45am The Queens Hotel burnt down. It was not rebuilt.

The Temptations building was erected by the Contarino family and run by Nellie and Joe Contarino as a general store and milk bar. This replaced the old store that Contarinos had established in the 1950s.

1967

Amalgamation of the Mossman Gorge section with the Daintree National Park created what was then Queensland’s largest area of National Park.

May / In a Federal referendum, 92% of Australian voters approved of giving Aboriginals the vote and being counted in the Census. This brought an end to The Aboriginals Preservation and Protection Act which had ruled their lives and curtailed their movements since 1939.

Dec 8 / The Cassowary School closed.

1968

The first Mossman soccer team began, coached by Peter Hills.

1969

The first four units at Alchera opened on land leased to the Douglas Shire Aged People's Home Building Society by DSC who remain as Trustees.

1970

A new tram bridge was built at Cassowary Creek.

1971

An IBM 1800 process control computer was installed in the Mossman Central Mill. It was one of the first computer controlled sugar mills.

Census population numbers for Douglas Shire were 4,072 and Mossman 1,594.

Mossman Squash Courts were built

1972

There were 203 sugar cane growers in the Mossman Mill area from the Lower Daintree River to Oak Beach.

The last hand-cut cane was received at Mossman Mill.

1973

Jan 30 / Mossman High School transferred to its new premises and grounds, no longer a Secondary Department attached to the State School. The first Principal was Neill Purcell.

Television was gradually coming to the district.

The Mossman Gorge Mission changed from Assembly of God to Australian Inland Mission, then the Church of Christ then the Brethren at the end of the ‘70s.

1974

Graham Jonsen began the SES in Mossman.

May 18. Jack & Newell's stencilled news sheet announced the "Million Dollar Duck", with an F instead of a D, showing at the Rex Theatre.

1976

Census population numbers were Douglas 4,746. Mossman 1,598.

1977

The centenary of Mossman was celebrated

Jan 30 / St. Augustine’s, the new Catholic church in Grogan Street was consecrated.

The new Mossman library was built in Mill Street, replacing the School of Arts building near the Mill.

June 29. A new $200,000 automatic telephone exchange was brought into service.

With the inauguration of the Uniting Church of Australia, the Mossman Methodist Church became the Mossman Uniting Church.

The Mossman Rifle Club began at its range on the Cook Highway at Killaloe.

1978

Jul / The Douglas Developer free newsletter began, produced by the Douglas Chamber of Commerce.

c1978 / Vic and Gina Bertoncini began Coral Reef coaches and held the 2 Mossman taxi licences.

1979

Mossman River flooded at the low level Foxton crossing preventing everyone who lived on the north side from reaching town for almost a week. Several houses in Mossman Street were flooded and water entered Jack and Newell’s store.

Mar 21 / Meals on Wheels was formed in Mossman. The first meal was delivered to Port Douglas in Jan. 1982 The permanent kitchen in Maxwell Street opened on Oct 4, 1986.

1980s

The Reef and Rainforest Festival, began with a concert and food stalls in Anzac Park in Port Douglas and a footrace challenge where runners raced the Bally Hooley to the Newell Beach golf course.

The Mossman Soccer club moved to the Cassowary Cricket Ground from Mossman High School grounds.

1980

Feb 13 / The Rex Theatre was sold by the Quaids to William and Margaret Bourchier. The picture show closed about then .

Ashley Holliday, great-grandson of James Coker (who began the 1896 Port Douglas and Mossman Gazette) and his father Roy purchased the Douglas Developer. In 1982 it became the Port Douglas and Mossman Gazette.

Pastor Albert Van Zogel started a service for the Assembly of God in the CWA Hall.

1981

Jan / Blue Nursing Service Mossman began. Its name was changed to Blue Care Mossman in 1999

Sep 19 / The Sugarland Arcade was opened by Martin Tenni for the Di Bartolo family.

Mossman Canegrowers acquired Jack and Newells store and renamed their co-op Town and Country Ltd. They operated a supermarket and joined Mitre 10 Queensland, a co-operative buying group, for hardware retailers. They stopped selling drapery. They became an unlisted public company in 1995.

1982

The Rex Highway was completely bituminised.

Saturday markets began under the Raintrees by St David’s Church, organised by the Chamber of Commerce.

1983

The Chapel and Vestry were added to St David’s.

Feb 11 / The National Bank in Mill Street was robbed of $9.000. The robber escaped into the cane fields.

1984

Building began of the Seventh Day Adventists hall on land purchased in Alchera Drive in 1972. The church was completed in 1994.

Cairns International Airport opened Stage I with a dual domestic and international terminal.

1985

A new walking track in Mossman Gorge National Park was cleared by Roy Gibson and Bennett Walker with the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Dreamtime Tours began in Mossman Gorge.

The Mossman Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses at 80 Alchera Drive was constructed

May 30 / The Rex Theatre property was sold to Christopher and Lynette Hayes who applied to change its use from Picture Theatre to Indoor Cricket. Its name was changed in 1994 to Pinjarra.

1986

Feb / The Douglas Times began, delayed a week when Cyclone Winifred unroofed the Innisfail printery.

Apr 6 / The National Bank moved from Mill Street to a new building in Front Street. The Douglas Shire Council’s Engineering Services moved into the Mill Street building until 1996 when it relocated to the Council’s new administration building in Front Street.

Sep / Construction began on Rex Creek suspension bridge at Mossman Gorge.

1987

The service station opened at Wonga Beach.

The Mill diversified and opened the Sea Ranch prawn farm at Killaloe. It was sold in 2002 and expanded, eventually becoming a barramundi farm in 2021.

Jul / Mossman Meteors Swimming club was formed with the first season held at the Mossman Squash Courts pool before the Bicentennial pool was ready.

1988

The Mossman Bicentennial Olympic-sized Pool opened, funded by DSC, State and Federal governments and local fundraising.

Feb. The Hon R C Katter, Jnr opened the Mossman District Community Counselling Service at 20 Mill Street. Today Mossman Support Services has come a long way since those humble beginnings with a number of different Services provided under its banner.

The Mossman RSL hall was sold to Mossman Bowls Club. In 1991 the RSL built a smaller hall beside the Diggers Huts at 28 Johnston Road.

Nov / Pia and Peter McKeown opened Temptations Café in Contarino’s store, Front Street.

1989

Mt Demi Plaza was built on the corner of Johnston Road and Front Street.

1990s

The Ridge subdivision began at Killaloe.

1990

May 11 / Mount Emerald Air Disaster took the life of Councillor Bruno Reidwig. A park in Port Douglas is named for him.

Mossman was sewered and the treatment plant was constructed on Junction Road.

Killaloe waste transfer station opened.

1991

Mar. Mike Berwick became Chairman of DSC. The title of Mayor replaced Chairman in 1994 when Mike was re-elected and remained Mayor until amalgamation in 2008. CEO replaced Shire Clerk.

The population of Port Douglas was 2500, Mossman 2200 and the Shire 9867.

The Mossman court house and cells were sold and moved to Port Douglas to become the Clink Theatre.

1992

The Bombing Monument was unveiled at Miallo by Carmel Emmi, nee Zullo, a survivor, on the 50th anniversary of an attack in the Zullo farm on Bamboo Road.

Opening of the new Mossman Police station and Court House.

Aug / Premier Wayne Goss opened Diane Cilento's Karnak Playhouse in the rainforest at Whyanbeel. Diane passed away Oct 6, 2011, The auditorium was not rebuilt after being severely damaged in Cyclone Yasi of 2011.

1993

Hazel Douglas began her Native Guide Safaris, continuing until 2006.

1994

The Douglas Times was sold to News Ltd but continued until it merged with the Gazette after the Gazette's purchase by News Ltd's Cairns Post in March 1995. The newspaper was closed in 2020

1996

Mar 14 / Official opening of Town and Country Ltd shopping complex at 63 Front Street, opposite the new Council offices. It included the IGA supermarket, Dick Smith electronics, Video 2000, Ada's café, and the Mossman Hotel bottle shop. Mitre 10 hardware expanded to fill the old Town and Country building. The supermarket was sold to Woolworths in 1998.

Apr 21 / Opening of the new Mossman Bowls clubhouse. The Rugby League football club removed the old Bowls clubhouse from the car park to the Mossman Showgrounds to become their clubhouse.

Aug 22 / Official opening of the Mossman Community Indoor Sports Centre, next to the High School.

Oct 7 / The Douglas Shire Council moved into new offices in 64-66 Front Street.

Kev Sackley's clothing store opened.

1997

Jan / Richmond, one of Mossman’s finest homes in the early 1900s and the home of Raymond and Gwendoline Rex and family in the 1920s, was burnt down under the supervision of the Mossman Fire Brigade. The house had been empty for 19 years.

The new Foxton Bridge was opened.

“The Thin Red Line”, an American feature film about World War II, was filmed at Drumsara and Daintree,

Shepherd Valley subdivision was created from a cane paddock by Max Christie.

1999

Wonga Beach State School was built on four acres on Snapper Island Drive, Wonga Beach replacing the old Rocky Point State school on the hill at Rocky Point

2000

“South Pacific” the musical, was filmed for American NBC at Newell Beach, Rocky Point and Drumsara, starring Glenn Close and Harry Connick Jnr.

Mossman Hospital became the Douglas Shire Multipurpose Health Service.

2001

Census first release figures gave the population of Mossman as 1962.

The Cane Cutters metal statue was unveiled in George David Park. Commissioned by the DSC to commemorate the Centenary of Federation. Created by Ben Jenkins in conjunction with Stephen Fischer of Mossman Steel Fabrications. A time capsule was buried to be opened in 50 years.

2002

Sep / The Douglas Arts Base (DAB) began at the old National Bank building in Mill Street.

2003

Feb / Mothers could no longer have their babies at Mossman Hospital.

Shannonvale Tropical Fruit Winery was opened by Tony and Trudie Woodall and went on to win awards.

2005

Sep 16 / David (RDR) Rex died. He was a Councillor 1955-1964. He had been collecting local rainfall observations which began with his father R D Rex in 1908. David’s son Ray and wife Trish have continued the service.

Three ultra-filtration, chemical free water treatment plants for Port Douglas to Daintree residents came into operation.

The Douglas Shire Sustainability Group formed.

2006

Power was put underground in Mossman township and all electricity poles were removed.

The rebuilt Mossman library opened.

The Exchange Hotel’s name was changed to the Daintree Inn. It was heritage-listed under this name in 2012. It reverted to Exchange Hotel in 2014

Sugar cane land at Cooya Beach was developed into Cane estate.

The census population for Douglas Shire was 11,308. Mossman and Mossman Gorge – 1883; Cooya Beach - 598, Newell Beach – 383; Wonga Beach – 916.

The Baptist congregation was disbanded.

A new residential development centred on Thomson Low Drive began in Shannonvale.

2007

ANZ bank extended its premises in Front Street

Mar 13 / The Douglas Shire Council adopted ten street names for the Cane subdivision in Cooya Beach, all of which have some reference to the traditional owners of the area.

Cooya derives its name from the word 'Kooya' meaning Fish and has been a traditional fishing ground of the Kuku Yalanji bama.

For the financial year 2007/2008 the DSC issued 8,505 rateable assessments.

2008

Mar 15 / The Douglas Shire ceased to be. After an Act of State Government, it was forcibly amalgamated with Cairns City Council to become the Cairns Regional Council. Val Shier was elected Mayor and Julia Leu was the councillor for Division 10, which comprised the Douglas Shire, Palm Cove, Clifton Beach and offshore islands.

World’s first Low GI sugar was made at Mossman Central Mill (RDS)

2010

Feb / Mossman Canegrowers store, known as Town and Country, was bought by Cairns Hardware to become Mossman Hardware.

A new bridge over Rex Creek at Mossman Gorge was completed. The old suspension bridge was deemed to be unsafe and was closed in 2009.

Aug 6 / The Mossman District Hospital Shire Hall, National Bank building (DAB) and St David’s and the Raintrees were officially entered on the Queensland Heritage Register.

2011

Feb 2/3 / The tail end of Cyclone Yasi, which destroyed Cardwell, toppled a large tree in Front Street and destroyed plants at the Whyanbeel Arboretum. Shannonvale was without power for 6 days due to a fallen power pole near the creek crossing.

The Jensen house was moved from Front Street near the Royal Hotel to O’Donoghue property at Syndicate. Replaced by the new Centrelink building.

Sep 29 / The unoccupied Royal Hotel again burnt down. It had burned down 80 years ago. Still owned by Jensen descendents, the Royal Hotel had surrendered its licence in 2007.

2012

Aug 7 / Official opening of Mossman Gorge Gateway Centre by Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin.

Mackay Sugar acquired the Mossman Central Mill for $25.3 million.

Nov / The Daintree Inn was entered on the Queensland Heritage Register no.602803. It sold for about $400,000 Oct 24 2013. It reverted to its original name, the Exchange Hotel, and re-opened after renovations on May 1 2014.

2013

Extensions to the Mossman Bowls Club included a new curved roof over the greens and a new gambling area.

2014

Jan 1 / The de-amalgamated Douglas Shire Council came into being. Swearing in of Mayor Julia Leu and four Councillors at the first council meeting on Jan.3

Apr 1 / The new enlarged Woolworths building was officially opened and began trading. The adjacent Town & Country Woolworths store was closed. Despite protests new traffic lights, the most northerly in Queensland, were operating at the entrance.

Jun / Beechwood Cafe on Front Street opened by owner Sharon Beechey

2018

Apr 8 / Prince Charles visited Mossman Gorge where Roy Gibson showed him around.

Town and Country shopping centre was for sale.

Jul 5 / Tropic Wings Cairns Tours and Charters bought Mossman based Coral Reef Coaches from owner/manager Pia McKeown.

Mossman and Tableland canegrowers planned to buy Mossman Central Mill from Mackay Sugar. A new company Far Northern Milling Pty Ltd representing local growers was formed

Aug 30 / Douglas Shire Council approved a payment of up to $250,000 to help Far Northern Milling P/L cover costs of acquiring Mossman Mill.

Aug-Sep / A brightly coloured Asian style boat came ashore at Cape Kimberley with 17 people aboard. 16 were taken into custody by Mossman police and just one by Border Force. All 17 Vietnamese were returned home.

Sep 27 / Port Douglas and Mossman Gazette editor Shane Nichols retired.

Nov 3 / Mackay Sugar will not operate the mill next season after the crushing finished today

Nov / A Melbourne based private investor paid $23.7 million for the shopping centre in Mossman which is anchored by Woolworths.

Federal Government pledged $20 million to help the Mossman Mill

Dec / State Government pledged $25 mill to help start bio-refinery to help underpin the sugar mill.

Deborah Kachel retired as Principal of Mossman State High School. Deborah had been Principal since 1993.

Dec 21 / The Mossman and District Gymnastics Club bought Pinjarra Place

2019

July / Farming co operative Far Northern Milling were officially handed the keys to the mill from Mackay Sugar.

Oct 24 / A total of 109 feral pigs were trapped and destroyed by animal pest controllers in recent months.

2020

Jan 2 / Mojo’s Bar and Grill restaurant closed.

Aug / Kubirri Aged Care Centre opened after 20 years planning. Operated by the Salvation Army with 42 beds.

2022

Feb 25 / Mountain View Medical Centre, founded in 1984 by Dr Bob Lanskey and his wife Jenny, closed. There were 2 doctors and 1500 patients.

Mar / The Post Office received a new roof.

The population of the Shire was 9,867, Mossman 2,200 and Port Douglas 2,500,.

Compiled by Pam Willis Burden with Gail Cockburn in May 2022.