From 1870 to 1890 Far North Queensland was the “El Dorado” of Australia.
During that time, towns large and small sprang up, ports were established, and most of the interior taken up and occupied.
It was a period of romantic enterprise in trade as well as in prospecting and discovery. It was essentially a “boom” period.
Australia had developed a temporary inclination towards the North East corner, with everybody and everything rolling in this direction.
The period of prosperity came to a sudden end, when its original causes disappeared.
The richest gold mines suddenly petered out, a world slump in the price of metals shut down many tin and copper mines, ports diminished, and the pastoral industry suffered from continuous drought.
Those who came to this area in adventure, and those who stayed to settle and to grow, formed the history of the Douglas Shire.
Early map of Douglas Shire Circa 1910
