History of Old Smithfield Township

The Yirrganydji

Yirrganydji people are the original custodians of the coastal strip of land that includes the tidal Barron River and the place where Old Smithfield township was established. Their traditional lifestyle was gatherer/hunters and fishers along the coastal rainforest, along the beaches, the river mouths, islands and seas ... read more ...

The 1876 Hodgkinson Goldrush

Cairns and Smithfield were established in late-1876 as supply towns to serve the diggers that rushed to the Hodgkinson goldfield earlier that year. The story of the Hodgkinson began in September 1874 when James Venture Mulligan was travelling through Gugu Djungan country ... read more ...

Pack Tracks to the Hodgkinson

The new town of Thornborough on the Hodgkinson goldfield was 280 kilometres by road from Cooktown and 210 kilometres from Cardwell. Wagons could take several months to make the journey and freight costs were exorbitant. The 2,000 miners on the field were anxious to find a shorter route to the coast ... read more ...

The Hodgkinson miners visit Trinity Bay

The advancing dry season meant there was little water or feed available for the animals and so the pace of work at the gold mines and stamper batteries on the Hodgkinson had slowed. Many of the miners were at a loose end and were keen to see Smith’s Track and the site of the new port at Trinity Inlet ... read more ...

Establishment of Cairns, 1876

In early October 1876, there were around 400 people camped at Trinity Bay in two separate camps; one group with Sub-Inspector Douglas on Trouton Esplanade and the other with Old Bill Smith at Smith’s Creek. Both parties were expecting a new settlement would be established at Trinity Bay, and they were waiting for the government surveyor to arrive ... read more ...

Kamerunga Packer's Camp, 1876

The open forest country at Kamerunga offered good grazing land and there was plenty of fresh water nearby in the Barron River. If steamers with a shallow-draft could run up the river and discharge their cargo at the limit of tidal water, the packers could camp here and would not need to make the arduous journey into Cairns ... read more ...

Establishment of Smithfield, 1876

The packers established a camp at the foot of the Douglas Track on the Barron River at Kamerunga, where there was fresh water and food for their horses. A number of people relocated from Cairns, including Old Bill Smith, and before long a shanty town sprung up ... read more ...

Smithfield expansion, 1877

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Smithfield decline, 1878

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Smithfield abandoned, 1879

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Smithfield as a sugar-cane farm, 1923-

Old Smithfield township was deserted by the middle of 1879, and for the next 40 years it was rarely visited, with the land being used occasionally to graze cattle. In 1923 it became a sugar-cane farm, and cane has been grown there for almost 100 years ... read more ...

Read the book about Old Smithfield

The information on this website is taken from the upcoming book OLD SMITHFIELD TOWNSHIP by Dr Dave Phoenix. Book released soon ... read more ...

Ungemach Beer Bottle, Chile.

26 oz. two-tone (cream and brown) stoneware beer bottle. The bottle is stamped 'Premiado Medalla de la Exhibición de Santiago 1872 A[dam] Ungemach' ... read more ...