Atherton Tablelands - History

Atherton Tablelands history is a rich, and at times convoluted, story of hardship and battles against the odds. As you enjoy the tranquillity and beauty of this region, it’s hard to imagine the kind of difficulties that early settlers experienced.

The history of settlers at the Atherton Tablelands is traced from its beginning in 1875 when it was discovered by the explorer and prospector, James Venture Mulligan. He was passing through the area on one of his many expeditions in search of fertile lands and valuable minerals such as gold and tin. Of course, Aboriginal people had inhabited this land for tens of thousands of years prior to Mulligan’s arrival, and this history is explained in Aboriginal History in the Atherton Tablelands.

While Mulligan was passing through the Atherton Tablelands he met a pioneer grazier, John Atherton, from whom the name of the region is derived. Mulligan informed Atherton of tin deposits in the area now known as Herberton, who then passed this knowledge further to another party of explorers headed by John Newell. These men formed an alliance, forming the pioneer town of Herberton.

For tin mining to be successful, a track needed to be carved through the jungle from Herberton to the main shipping terminal on the coast, Port Douglas. Workers toiled under harsh conditions, combating wild animals and tropical diseases. The track, when finished, passed through the present Main Street in Atherton. Bullock teams hauled food and other essential supplies up and down this road to sustain the mining community at Herberton. This track was also used to drag lumber to the coastline and establish a major timber industry.

The township of Atherton, originally called Prior’s Pocket, formed from the temporary camp that sheltered men as they travelled along the Herberton-Port Douglas track. The growth of the timber industry also meant that felling occurred throughout the Atherton Tablelands, so men were often stationed along the track for extended periods of time. Atherton officially became a town when the first lots were sold on 23rd February 1886.

Life for European settlers (British Isles, northern Italy, Germany, Middle East, Greek, Albanian, Sicilian, Swiss, French) in the Atherton Tablelands was spent either mining for tin or gold, or lumbering. Along with Europeans, many Chinese, Malaysians and Indians came to work the land. The Chinese, mostly market gardeners, were on the lookout for opportunities to grow maize, and found prime conditions at the Atherton Tablelands. Up until 1919, Chinese were responsible for approximately 80% of all maize harvested in the region. Atherton had a Chinese population of more than 1000, with it’s own Chinatown and Chinese temple.

The timber industry grew into a major force throughout the Atherton Tablelands, with Kauri Pine and Red Cedar being the prized timbers. Trading firm, Burns, Philp & Co. Ltd., developed the idea of floating logs down the Barron River in a similar manner to Canadian lumberjacks who floated logs down the Fraser River. An experiment was arranged to float eleven logs down the Barron River to the coast, and they all successfully arrived with little damage. This success encouraged the timber companies to chop down as much cedar as they could before the wet season, when the rise in water levels would rush the timber to the coast. Unfortunately that year the wet season was tremendously heavy and the Barron River swelled so high that most of the logs wre stranded in backwaters on the edge of the river. When the river levels dropped, the logs were scattered for hundreds of miles all the way from Tinaroo to Smithfield. The few logs that did make it to the coast were badly damaged as they passed over the mighty Barron Falls. The fiasco was deemed a total failure and was never attempted again.

In 1925, access to the Atherton Tablelands was thrust open to the world with the construction of the Gillies Highway. For the first time, it was possible to drive from the coastal strip to the Atherton Tablelands, and back, in one day. The road was one-way only, so lengthy delays were often experienced at both ends. Atherton's water supply was completed in 1929, and was upgraded by a pipeline from the Barron River in 1956.

In 1955, the Queensland Irrigation and Water Supply Commission commenced the construction of Tinaroo Dam on the Barron River. Located about 10 miles from Atherton, the purpose of the dam was to provide irrigation for tobacco farms in the Mareeba-Dimbula area, and to prevent millions of litres of water flowing down the Barron River to the sea every wet season. The concrete irrigation channels brought a guaranteed water supply to almost 100 000 acres of undeveloped land that could now be used for farming. This was a tremendous boost to the economy of the region. The dam was the first one of its size built in Queensland. The capacity of Tinaroo Dam is approximately three-quarters of the volume of Sydney Harbour long with a spillway of 250 feet.

Today, farming is still the major industry at the Atherton Tablelands. Sugar cane, corn, maize, beans, strawberries, macadamia nuts and lettuce have replaced tobacco farms as primary industries. Cattle grazing and chicken rearing are also major industries. The Atherton Tablelands has also grown into a popular tourist destination, with Tinaroo Dam being the focal point.