The Shire of Mareeba is a

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 federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

at the base of

Cape York Peninsula The Cape York Peninsula is a peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth's last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación Sierra Madre, ...

Far North Queensland Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns, Queensland, Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stret ...

, inland from

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

. The shire, administered from the town of

Mareeba Mareeba is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Mareeba in Far North Queensland, Australia. Between 2008 and 2013, it was within the Tablelands Region. The town's name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning ''meeting of the water ...

, covered an area of , and existed as a local government entity from 1879 until 2008, when it amalgamated with several councils in the

Atherton Tableland The Atherton Tableland is a fertile plateau, which is part of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland, Australia. It has very deep, rich basaltic soils and the main industry is agriculture. The principal river flowing across the plateau is the B ...

area to become the

Tablelands Region The Tablelands Region is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia inland from the city of Cairns, Queensland, Cairns. Established in 2008, it was preceded by four previous local government areas ...

. On 20 March 2013, Mareeba residents voted in favour of a proposal to reverse the amalgamation and to re-establish Mareeba Shire. The new Mareeba Shire was re-established on 1 January 2014. In the , the Shire of Mareeba had a population of 22,858 people.

History

The

Woothakata Division #REDIRECT Shire of Mareeba The Shire of Mareeba is a Local government in Australia, local government area at the base of Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, inland from Cairns, Queensland, Cairns. The shire, administered from the town o ...

, based in the mining town of Thornborough on the

Hodgkinson goldfield The Hodgkinson Mineral Area was a mining area near the Hodgkinson River about west of Cairns, in the present-day Shire of Mareeba in Queensland, Australia. It was the site of a gold rush in the 1870s. History Prospector James Venture Mulliga ...

, was created on 11 November 1879 as one of 74 divisions around Queensland under the ''Divisional Boards Act 1879'' with a population of 1836. Woothakata is a Wakaman and Kuku Djungan Aboriginal word which describes the way (the journey) they travelled to

Ngarrabullgan Ngarrabullgan (also ''Njrrabulgan'', ''Nurrabullgan'', ''Ngarrabullgin'', or ''Nguddaboolgan''), officially named Mount Mulligan by the State, is a large tabletop mountain (18 km by 6.5 km) located 100 kilometres west of Cairns ...

Mount Mulligan Mount Mulligan is a former mining town and now a rural locality in the Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Mount Mulligan had "no people or a very low population". It is the site of the Mount Mulligan mine disaste ...

, an important meeting place. The name Woothakata lives on as the name of a property at

Chillagoe Chillagoe is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Chillagoe had a population of 214 people. It was once a thriving mining town for a range of minerals, but is now reduced to a small ...

. On 3 September 1881, the Tinaroo Division was created under the ''Divisional Boards Act 1879'' out of parts of the

, Hinchinbrook and Woothakata Divisions. On 18 May 1889, the tin-mining area at

Stannary Hills Stannary Hills Tramways are a heritage-listed pair of tramways at Irvinebank, Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1901 to 1907. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 25 February 2005. History The Boonm ...

and

Irvinebank Irvinebank is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Irvinebank had a population of 113 people. Geography The Great Dividing Range forms the south-eastern and southern boundary of th ...

and its hinterland in and around the

Walsh River The Walsh River is a river located on the Cape York Peninsula of Far North Queensland, Australia. The headwaters of the river rise in the locality of Watsonville on the Atherton Tableland approximately north of Herberton and then flow in ...

(an area of 4110 sq miles) were severed from Woothakata Division to create Walsh Division. On 20 December 1890, part of the Tinaroo Division was excised to create the new Barron Division, closer to

. With the passage of the ''Local Authorities Act 1902'', the Divisions of Woothakata, Tinaroo and Barron became Shires of Woothaka, Tinaroo and Barron on 31 March 1903. On 16 December 1908, a small part of Shire of Woothakata was transferred to the Shire of Walsh, which was then split with one part being proclaimed the new Shire of Chillagoe, based at

. In 1919, Woothakata's seat of administration moved to

. Thornborough had declined steadily in importance, having a population of 58 in 1921 and 29 in 1933. The same year, on 20 December, the Shire of Barron was abolished, with its area being split between the Shire of Mulgrave and Shire of Woothakata. On 25 June 1932, the Shires of

Walsh Walsh may refer to: People and fictional characters * Walsh (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters Places Australia * Mount Walsh, Mount Walsh National Park Canada * Fort Walsh, one of the first Royal Canadian Mounted ...

and

merged into the Shire of Woothakata, which was then organised into six divisions, of which the former Shires of Chillagoe and Walsh formed the greater part of the sixth division. Division 3 had 2 representatives and all the other divisions had only one representative. On 20 December 1947, the Shire of Woothakata was renamed the Shire of Mareeba. A new Mareeba Shire Hall was built in Mareeba in 1961; it was added to the

Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As ...

on 11 October 2013. On 22 March 1995, parts of the Shires of Mareeba and

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

and the whole of the abolished Shire of Mulgrave were added to the

City of Cairns The City of Cairns was a local government area centred on the Far North Queensland city of Cairns. Established in 1885, for most of its existence it consisted of approximately around Cairns itself, with much of the metropolitan area being loca ...

. On 15 March 2008, under the ''Local Government (Reform Implementation) Act 2007'' passed by the

Parliament of Queensland The Parliament of Queensland is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature, legislative body of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. As provided under the Constitution of Queensland, the Parliament consists o ...

on 10 August 2007, the Shire of Mareeba merged with the Shires of Atherton, Eacham and

Herberton Herberton is a rural town and locality in the Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Herberton had a population of 895 people. Geography Herberton is on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland. It is situate ...

to form the

. In 2012, a proposal was made to de-amalgamate the Shire of Mareeba from the Tablelands Region. On 9 March 2013, the citizens of the former Mareeba shire voted in a referendum to de-amalgamate. The shire was re-established on 1 January 2014.

Towns and localities

The Shire of Mareeba includes the following settlements: *

* Almaden *

Amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...

* Arbouin * Arriga * Barwidgi *

Bellevue Bellevue means "beautiful view" in French. Bellevue or Belle Vue may refer to: Places Australia * Bellevue, Queensland * Bellevue, Western Australia * Bellevue Hill, New South Wales Canada * Bellevue, Alberta * Bellevue, Newfoundlan ...

* Biboohra * Bilwon * Bolwarra * Bulleringa *

Chewko Chewko is a rural Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. In the , Chewko had a population of 213 people. Geography Chewko has the following mountains: * Mount Abbot () * Mount Aunt () * ...

* Crystalbrook * Desailly * Dimbulah * Forty Mile * Fossilbrook * Gamboola * Glen Russell *

Groganville Groganville is a rural locality in the Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. It was formerly a mining town. In the , the locality of Groganville had "no people or a very low population". Geography The predominant land use is grazing on nat ...

Highbury Highbury is an area of North London, England, in the London Borough of Islington. Highbury Manor Highbury was once owned by Ranulf, brother of Ilger, and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor hou ...

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

* Julatten *

Kingsborough Kingsburgh may refer to: * Kingsburgh, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa * Kingsburgh, Skye, Highland, Scotland * Kingsburgh, California, former name of Kingsburg, California Kingsburg is a city in Fresno County, California, United States. Kingsbu ...

* Koah * Kowrowa * Kuranda * Lyndside * Mona Mona * Mount Carbine *

Mount Carbine Tableland The Mount Carbine Tableland is a plateau in Far North Queensland, Australia. Part of the Great Dividing Range, it lies in the Shire of Mareeba 15 km west of Mossman, and 1,460 km north-west of Brisbane, reaching an altitude of 1,383&n ...

* Mount Molloy * Mount Mulgrave *

* Munderra * Mungana * Mutchilba * Myola * Paddys Green * Petford *

Ravensworth Ravensworth is a village and civil parish in the Holmedale valley, in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is approximately north-west of Richmond, North Yorkshire, Richmond and from Darlington. The parish has a population of 255, acc ...

* Red River * Rookwood * Southedge * Speewah * Springfield * Staaten * Strathmore * Thornborough *

Watsonville Watsonville is a city in Santa Cruz County, California, in the Monterey Bay Area of the Central Coast of California. The population was 52,590 at the 2020 census. Predominantly Latino and Democratic, Watsonville is a self-designated sanctua ...

Wrotham Wrotham ( ) is a village on the Pilgrims' Way in Kent, England, at the foot of the North Downs. It is north of Borough Green and approximately east of Sevenoaks. It is between the M20 motorway, M20 and M26 motorway, M26 motorways. History T ...

Note: * Prior to 1996, the Shire of Mareeba also included the localities of Barron Gorge, Lamb Range and Redlynch to the west of Cairns. These were incorporated into the

Libraries

Mareeba Shire Council operate public libraries at

, Dimbulah, Kuranda and

Demographics

In the , the Shire of Mareeba had a population of 21,557 people. In the , the Shire of Mareeba had a population of 22,858 people.

Chairmen and mayors

In early years the elected councillors chose one among them to the chairman on an annual basis. The following are the chairmen of the Woothakata Division and Shire of Woothakata: * 1890–1907: George Jonathan Evenden * 1920: James Harris From 1921, chairmen of shires were elected by the voters for a period of 3 years. * August 1921– : Ernest Albert Atherton * 1927, 1929, 1931: George Henry O'Donnell The following are the chairmen in the first incarnation of Shire of Mareeba: * 1933–1935, –December 1939: William Gardner * December 1939– : J. M. Brown * 1950: J. M. Brown * 1973–1976:

Martin Tenni Martin James Tenni (4 April 1934 – 20 October 2019) was an Australian politician. He was a Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. Early life Martin Tenni was born on 4 April 1934 in Cairns, Queensland, Cairns, the son of Henry Tenni ...

Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly This is a list of members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, the state parliament of Queensland, sorted by parliament. See also * Queensland Legislative Assembly electoral districts This is a list of current and former Electoral dis ...

for Barron River The following are the mayors in the current incarnation of Shire of Mareeba: *2014–2020: Tom Gilmore, former Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Tablelands *2020–present : Angela Toppin

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mareeba Shire Far North Queensland 1879 establishments in Australia Local government areas of Queensland Former local government areas of Queensland 2008 disestablishments in Australia Populated places disestablished in 2008 2014 establishments in Australia