Port Douglas is a coastal town and

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

in the

Shire of Douglas The Shire of Douglas is a local government area in Far North Queensland. It is located on the coast north of the city of Cairns. The shire, administered from the town of Mossman, covers an area of , and existed as a local government entity f ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

, approximately 60 km north of

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

. In the , Port Douglas had a population of 3,504 people. The town's population can often double, however, with the influx of tourists during the peak tourism season from May to September. The town is named in honour of a former Premier of Queensland, John Douglas. Port Douglas developed quickly based on the mining industry. Other parts of the area were established with timber cutting occurring in the area surrounding the Daintree River and with settlement starting to occur on lots around the Mossman River by 1880. Previous names for the town included Terrigal, Island Point, Port Owen and Salisbury. The town is situated adjacent to two

World Heritage A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

areas, the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, A ...

and the

Daintree Rainforest The Daintree Rainforest is a region on the northeast coast of Queensland, Australia, north of Mossman and Cairns. At around , the Daintree is a part of the largest continuous area of tropical rainforest on the Australian continent. The Daintr ...

. Port Douglas was No. 3 on Australian Traveller magazine's list of 100 Best Towns in Australia."100 Best Towns in Australia". Retrieved 21 July 2013

History

Port Douglas War Memorial, Queensland, 2020, 01

The Port Douglas

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, ...

was established in 1877 after the discovery of gold at

Hodgkinson River Hodgkinson is an English-language surname, and may refer to: * Alan Hodgkinson (1936–2015), English footballer * Albert Hodgkinson (1897–1975), English recipient of the Distinguished Conduct Medal * Alison Hodgkinson, South African cricketer * ...

by James Venture Mulligan. Port Douglas Post Office opened on 1 September 1877. It grew quickly, and at its peak Port Douglas had a population of 12,000 and 27 hotels. With the construction of the

Mulligan Highway The Mulligan Highway is a state highway in Queensland, Australia. It runs for approximately 266 km between Mareeba and Cooktown, on the east coast of Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Q ...

it serviced towns as far away as

Herberton Herberton is a rural town and locality in the Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Herberton had a population of 855 people. Geography Herberton is on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland. It is situat ...

. Port Douglas State School opened on 11 November 1879, but closed in 1962. It was reopened on 23 January 1989. When the Kuranda Railway from

to Kuranda was completed in 1891, the importance of Port Douglas dwindled along with its population. A

cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an an ...

in 1911 demolished or severely damaged all but seven residential buildings and 4 commercial buildings, including the Wharf buildings (rebuilt), the

Courthouse A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English-spe ...

(rebuilt), the

Catholic church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

(rebuilt) and

Chinese temple Chinese temple architecture refer to a type of structures used as place of worship of Chinese Buddhism, Taoism or Chinese folk religion, where people revere ethnic Chinese gods and ancestors. They can be classified as: * '' miào'' () or ''d ...

(not rebuilt). At its nadir in 1960 the town, by then little more than a fishing village, had a population of 100. The Port Douglas War Memorial was unveiled on 10 February 1923 by Mrs Tresize. On 5 July 1943, a

RAAF "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

Vultee Vengeance The Vultee A-31 Vengeance was an American dive bomber of World War II, built by Vultee Aircraft. A modified version was designated A-35. The Vengeance was not used operationally by the United States, but was operated as a front-line aircraft by ...

(Serial Number A27-217) crash landed on the beach near Port Douglas. In the late-1980s, tourism boomed in the region after investor

Christopher Skase Christopher Charles Skase (18 September 19485 August 2001) was an Australian businessman who later became one of his country's most wanted fugitives, after his business empire crashed spectacularly and he fled to Majorca, Spain. Early life S ...

financed the construction of the

Sheraton Mirage Port Douglas Resort The Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort, Port Douglas, is a seaside resort hotel on Four Mile Beach in Port Douglas, Far North Queensland, Australia. History Developed by businessman Christopher Skase at a reported cost of $100 million, the reso ...

. The music video for

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

's 1988 single " It's No Secret" was filmed in Port Douglas. In November 1996 United States President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

and First Lady

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

chose the town as their only holiday stop on their historic visit to Australia. When dining at a local restaurant they witnessed a couple's wedding certificate. On a return visit on 11 September 2001, Bill Clinton was again dining at a local restaurant, when he was advised of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

. He returned to the United States the following day. On 4 September 2006, television personality and conservationist

Steve Irwin Stephen Robert Irwin (22 February 19624 September 2006), known as "The Crocodile Hunter", was an Australian zookeeper, conservationist, television personality, wildlife educator, and environmentalist. Irwin grew up around crocodiles and ot ...

died at

Batt Reef Batt Reef is a coral reef off Port Douglas in Shire of Douglas, Queensland, Australia. Geography Batt Reef is centred at and is part of the Great Barrier Reef. The reef is about 18 km long by 5 km (11 miles by 3 miles) wide, lying ...

, off Port Douglas, after a

stingray Stingrays are a group of sea rays, which are cartilaginous fish related to sharks. They are classified in the suborder Myliobatoidei of the order Myliobatiformes and consist of eight families: Hexatrygonidae (sixgill stingray), Plesiobatidae ...

barb pierced his heart during filming of a documentary called ''The Ocean's Deadliest''. Irwin was filmed snorkelling directly above the stingray when it lashed him with its tail, killing him almost immediately. The event was widely reported in Australia and overseas. Although historically and currently Port Douglas is with the

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

, between 2008 and 2013, it was within the

Cairns Region The Cairns Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Queensland, Australia, centred on the regional city of Cairns. It was established in 2008 by the amalgamation of the City of Cairns and the Shires of Douglas and Mulgrave. H ...

following a local government amalgamation which was subsequently reversed following a vote by residents of the area. Port Douglas was a popular location to view the 14 November 2012 solar eclipse that occurred at 6:38 am (local time). Thousands travelled to Port Douglas to see the phenomenon. At the , Port Douglas had a population of 3,205 people.

Heritage listings

St Mary's by the Sea, Port Douglas, 2020, 02

Port Douglas has a number of

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many i ...

sites, including: * Macrossan Street: FDA Carstens Memorial * Wharf Street: St Mary's by the Sea * 6 Dixie Street:

Port Douglas Wharf Port Douglas Wharf is a heritage-listed wharf at 6 Dixie Street, Port Douglas, Queensland, Port Douglas, Shire of Douglas, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1904. It was also known as Shipwreck Museum. It was added to the Queensland Herita ...

* 25 Wharf Street:

Port Douglas Court House Museum Port Douglas Court House Museum is a heritage-listed former courthouse and now museum at 25 Wharf Street, Port Douglas, Queensland, Port Douglas, Shire of Douglas, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by the Queensland Colonial Architect, Que ...

Population

In the 2016 Census, there were 3,504 people in Port Douglas. 56.6% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England 6.3% and New Zealand 5.9%. 76.6% of people spoke only English at home. The most common responses for religion were No Religion, so described 41.1% and Catholic 17.4%.

Climate

Port Douglas has a

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...

according to

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

(Am), with hot summers and warm winters, with heavy rainfall primarily occurring from January–March, the wettest month of the year typically being February. The average temperature of the sea ranges from in July to in January.

Education

Port Douglas State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at Endeavour Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 281 students with 20 teachers (17 full-time equivalent) and 12 non-teaching staff (8 full-time equivalent). For secondary school, Port Douglas is within the catchment of Mossman State High School.

Amenities

The Port Douglas Community Hall houses the Port Douglas Library, 11–29 Mowbray Street, operated by the

Douglas Shire Council The Shire of Douglas is a local government area in Far North Queensland. It is located on the coast north of the city of Cairns. The shire, administered from the town of Mossman, covers an area of , and existed as a local government entity fro ...

. The Library opened in 2010. Another branch library is located in Mossman. The Port Douglas branch of the

Queensland Country Women's Association The Queensland Country Women's Association (QCWA) is the Queensland chapter of the Country Women's Association in Australia. The association seeks to serve the interests of women and children in rural areas in Australia through a network of loca ...

meets at the CWA Hall at 8 Blake Street. St Mary's Catholic Church is at 2 Endeavour Street. It is within the Mossman-Port Douglas Parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns.

Events

Four Mile Beach, Port Douglas, Queensland, 2020 04

The annual Port Douglas Carnivale is held in May and runs for 10 days over two weekends, beginning with a parade attracting over 10,000 people. In October ''Porttoberfest'' (a play on ''

Oktoberfest The Oktoberfest (; bar, Wiesn, Oktobafest) is the world's largest Volksfest, featuring a beer festival and a travelling carnival. It is held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It is a 16- to 18-day folk festival running from mid- or ...

'') is held. The ''Great Barrier Reef Marathon Festival'' is also held during October. Every May The Port Douglas Yacht Club hold their annual Regatta in May. Port Douglas Race Week attracts yachts from all along the Eastern Seaboard and provide views for visitors from Four Mile Beach.

Attractions

Kitesurfing Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, or snow surface. It combines aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and wak ...

is common at the southern end of Four Mile Beach, particularly during the winter months when trade winds blow from the South. Port Douglas is near the

. Numerous companies run daily trips from the marina to the outer reef and the Low Isles for

scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for " Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chr ...

and

snorkelling Snorkeling ( British and Commonwealth English spelling: snorkelling) is the practice of swimming on or through a body of water while equipped with a diving mask, a shaped breathing tube called a snorkel, and usually swimfins. In cooler waters, ...

. Port Douglas is also well known for its many restaurants, walks, golf courses, and five star resorts. Near the center of town is a wildlife park that displays crocodiles, tree-kangaroos, cassowaries, koalas, quolls, flying foxes and other native animals.

References

External links

Port Douglas Tourist Information

Port Douglas News

Port Douglas Visitors GuidePort Douglas Webcam

Tourism Port Douglas Daintree

University of Queensland: Queensland Places:Port Douglas
{{Authority control Towns in Queensland Coastal towns in Queensland Populated places in Far North Queensland Shire of Douglas 1877 establishments in Australia Populated places established in 1877 Port Douglas, Queensland Fishing communities in Australia Localities in Queensland