History of Cairns - Cairns Township

Cairns Township

In 1903, Cairns was officially declared a town, with a registered population of 3,500. In the same year, the memoirs of R. A. Johnstone were first published in the Brisbane-based Queenslander newspaper. These memoirs, later collectively published under the title, Spinifex and Wattle, were significant because of the details given of many aboriginal customs observed by Johnstone in the Trinity Bay and Barron River area during the Dalrymple expeditions of 1872–1873. After intense public debate, a local harbour board was established in 1906. A rapid increase in architectural creativity followed, with construction of many buildings that are now heritage listed, including the Bolands Center, St Monicas school, Central Hotel, Adelaide Shipping offices, and the Burns Philp (Cairns International Hotel) building.

In 1909, The Cairns Post newspaper commenced publication, with a publishing schedule of six days per week, which continues to the present day. (An earlier unrelated paper also called The Cairns Post was published between 17 May 1883 and 20 May 1893.)

The town's first water supply opened in 1911, and was described in the local press as "a valuable aid to sanitation." In July 1912, the brick and timber Cairns District Hospital was opened, which helped foster the town's self-reliance to cope with medical emergency, particularly in a tropical environment. The two-storey building, located on the esplanade, had taken two years to construct. It replaced an earlier basic bungalow-style hospital, in which the office had at times also served as an operating theatre.