Just over 3, 000 people are fortunate enough to call this tropical oasis home. Located 60 Km north of Cairns, the capital of tropical north Queensland, Port Douglas offers an enviable position right at the doorstep of the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree.
With such a wealth of world renowned environmental attractions right at your doorstep, it’s little wonder that Port Douglas accommodates thousands of tourists every year.
In 1876 when gold was discovered on the Hodgkinson River, an area on the tablelands between Cairns and present-day Port Douglas, the rush was on to find a port for its dispatch.
In 1877 Christie Palmerston carved the ‘Bump Track’ down to the coast and Port Douglas was quickly settled by merchants. Originally an Aboriginal trail between the coastal and mountain regions and in the early days of settlement, it was a crucial link between Port Douglas and the hinterland for settlers and miners.
In November of that year, Colonial Treasurer the Hon J.R. Dickson and Queensland Parliamentarian John Macrossan visited and confirmed that the town was to be named after the current Premier of Queensland, John Douglas.
John Douglas (1828 – 1904) immigrated to New South Wales with his brother Edward in 1851 aboard the Malacca.
Initially appointed a Goldfields Commissioner nearby to present-day Canberra, John gave this up to pursue a successful pastoral business alongside his brother. Shifting their business interests to the north of the country John and Edward found congenial acquaintances among the squatters, many of them newly arrived from Scotland.
John helped to establish the a newspaper called ‘Darling Downs Gazette’ in 1858 and soon decided to enter politics ‘as a kind of relaxation’.
John was elected into the NSW Legislative Assembly, representing the Darling Downs just before Queensland separated from NSW to create their own colony. John later represented Camden, near Sydney, before folding his business interests and moving to Brisbane when Edward decided to sail back to Scotland.
But John was not out of politics for long and in 1863 he was elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly, representing Port Curtis. He then went on to have a long career, albeit a controversial career in Queensland politics. He held a number of ministerial portfolios, including that of Premier from 1877 to 1879 (during which Port Douglas was named after him).
After his electoral defeat in 1879 John resigned from politics and turned to journalism with the ‘Brisbane Courier’ until he was appointed Government Resident and Magistrate to the Torres Straight communities where he remained until a new appointment as Special Commissioner to British New Guinea was granted to him. He returned to the Torres Straight where he remained until his death in 1904.
John was survived by his wife Sarah and four sons; Robert, Henry, Edward and Hugh.
Public service must have been in the genes for this Douglas family. Robert and Henry had careers in the Queensland Judiciary, Edward a career in Queensland politics (as did his son and grandson) and Hugh in the Army – but was tragically killed in 1918 during World War 1.
By 1882 there were 14 hotels in town; that’s not an unusual feat for early colonial settlements. It was a boom period and Port Douglas overtook Cairns as the main port for gold and tin mining fields.
But in 1885, the rail link from the Tablelands was joined to Cairns, which then eventually linked the long rail journey south to Brisbane. This resulted in development at Port Douglas declining and the town rarely grew economically for many years.
It wasn’t until the 1970’s that tourism began to flourish in Far North Queensland. Soon an International Airport opened in Cairns and this in turn had proven to be an economic boom for the entire region.
Today, Port Douglas, the administrative centre of the Douglas Shire; a destination I highly recommend on your travels, is a thriving seaside town hosting world-class accommodation and an outdoor adventure playground beyond compare. Truly the jewel of the north.
Douglas 