Grassy Hill Lighthouse, Cooktown, c 1966. From the Queensland Heritage Registerid=601241 ) . Grassy Hill lighthouse was erected for the Queensland Department of Harbours and Rivers in 1886 to mark a safe passage to the port of Cooktown, at the mouth of the Endeavour River. Cooktown was established in October 1873 as the Endeavour River port and administrative centre to the important Palmer River goldfields. Within six months of its establishment the town contained 20 restaurants, 12 large and 20 smaller stores, 6 butchers, 5 bakers, 3 tinsmiths, and chemists, fancygoods shops, watchmakers, b
Grassy Hill Lighthouse, Cooktown, c 1966. From the Queensland Heritage Registerid=601241 ) . Grassy Hill lighthouse was erected for the Queensland Department of Harbours and Rivers in 1886 to mark a safe passage to the port of Cooktown, at the mouth of the Endeavour River. Cooktown was established in October 1873 as the Endeavour River port and administrative centre to the important Palmer River goldfields. Within six months of its establishment the town contained 20 restaurants, 12 large and 20 smaller stores, 6 butchers, 5 bakers, 3 tinsmiths, and chemists, fancygoods shops, watchmakers, bootmakers and saddlers; 65 publican's licenses had been issued for the Cooktown-Palmer River district, with 30 more applied for by April 1874. There was an estimated 3,000 floating population in the town itself, and thousands of men en route to the goldfields. Two Cooktown newspapers were established in 1874, a state school, customs house, court house, post office and several churches were erected by 1875, and the town was declared a municipality on 5 April 1876. The 1876 census revealed a population of over 9,200 persons on the then extensive Palmer goldfields, and the town of Cooktown had a population of just under 2,200. In the 1880s Cooktown developed as the principal port of far North Queensland, and local business 'boomed'. Between 1884 and 1888 a railway was constructed from Cooktown to Laura, further opening the port to development. By the late 1880s it was the centre not only of a thriving mining district [boosted by the 1887 discovery of tin along the Annan River], but also of pearling, bêche-de-mer, and pastoral activity. After 1885 Cooktown was also the main port for Queensland trade with New Guinea. Prior to the establishment of the light station at Grassy Hill in 1886, leading lights at the gable ends of the sheds on the Cooktown wharves enabled vessels to enter and leave the port at night. By 1882 a temporary light had been placed on the hill, but George Poynt
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Photo credit: © QS Archive / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1960s, 1966, archival, archive, archives, australia, australian, car, collection, cooktown, historic, historical, history, image, lighthouse, photo, qsa, queensland, reference, state, vintage
