A Souvenir CD Postcard and Visitor's Guide to Cairns, Tropical North Queensland, Australia

Picturesque and quaint, historical Herberton (so named for its position at the headwaters of the Herbert River) is situated on the south western ranges of the Atherton Tablelands, 18 kilometres from Atherton and 118 kilometres from Cairns, and is one of the oldest settlements in the area. The sleepy atmosphere of Herberton belies it's beginnings, for in its heyday, this important tin mining centre boasted a population of 8000, (currently 1500) at least 17 hotels, a brewery and 2 newspapers.

Tin was first discovered in the area by James Venture Mulligan in 1875, and in 1879 an expedition to the same site took place, but was unsuccessful in finding payable ore. It wasn't until 1880 that a party led by William Jack and John Newell (the latter to become Herberton's first mayor in 1888) made a significant discovery which turned out to be the first tin lode (as opposed to alluvial ore) to be discovered in Australia. Herberton was also to become the richest tin mining field in Australia at that time.

Mining commenced in Herberton on 8th May 1880, and expanded greatly with the arrival of the town's mining magnate, John Moffat, in October that year...

An interesting fact, not even known by most locals, is that the city of Cairns owes its growth and prominence to Herberton, which came about through the need for a more reliable route out of Herberton to an accessible port for the shipment of tin, as well as for the transport of necessities into the mining outpost. Cairns was not the first choice for the port but was eventually deemed to be the most suitable, and after much petitioning by the people of Herberton, a rail link was commenced at Cairns in 1886. Unfortunately for Herberton, it didn't reach that town until 1910, by which time the mining and the township of Herberton had already gone into a decline. However in July 1891 a Cobb & Co coach service had begun linking Kuranda to Herberton via Mareeba and Atherton, giving at least some form of regular contact and transport between Herberton and the outside world...

Views of Herberton.  Left: Grace Street looking back towards Atherton.

Right: looking across the Wild River towards the Mt. St. Bernard College and church.

(Article truncated at this point.)

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