OLD SMITHFIELD TOWNSHIP (1876-1879)

Barron River, near Cairns, Queensland, Australia.

Old Smithfield was the first Anglo-Australian township in the land of the Yirrganydji people. The settlement was on Bana Bidaga:rra (the Barron River), where Smith's Track and Douglas' Track began their torturous ascent from the coast up Bunda Bunda:rra (the Macalister Range) to the recently discovered Hodgkinson goldfield, 80 miles away.

Smithfield was established shortly after the nearby port of Cairns was declared at Gimuy in the land of the Yidinji people. Smithfield township soon became a bustling river port and supply town, providing accommodation, stores and supplies to the hopeful diggers on their way to try their luck at the new goldfields towns of Thornborough and Kingsborough.

Old Smithfield Township in its heyday in the 1870s.
P00121, Image Collection, Cairns Historical Society.

Old Smithfield grew rapidly and soon rivalled Cairns in size. However, although the township was the favoured supply point for packers, carriers and waggon teams, Old Smithfield's glory was short-lived and lasted only a few years before the residents moved on, and the township was abandoned.

Today sugar-cane fields cover the site of the township and nothing remains of Old Smithfield, apart from the Old Smithfield Cemetery. However, the story of the township, along with artefacts and archaeological items from the site are here online for the first time.

Old Smithfield Township today.