Ingham- a rich heritage of people, nature, and the tropics...
Tropical paradise and laid back people
Ingham was one of the last towns on the old ‘Sunshine Route’ to be connected by a railway, both north and south. It has a rich history not only of sugar, but of hardy immigrants, excited tourists and stunning natural beauty.
William Ingham was an explorer of the Lower Barron, Trinity Inlet and Port Douglas, all areas that feature in the rich history of northern and tropical Queensland. The town of Ingham is named after him. Ingham started a sugar plantation in the 1870s, and tried to construct a sugar mill. He left the area, and went to New Guinea in 1877, where he eventually was killed. A small settlement was established around this time, and grew into the town of Ingham.
In the early 1890s the Queensland Government arranged for the recruitment of northern Italian settlers to replace South Sea Islands labour. The Italians were generally welcomed by Ingham planters, and the policy of breaking up large estates into small farms provided opportunities for the hard working Italian settlers. That strong Italian flavour has become more strongly associated with the community over the past decades. The first Australian Italian Festival was held in 1995.
Biggest is best (in the sugar industry anyway)…
Sugar has been the mainstay of the region for many years. Several mills and plantations were established, among them the Victoria Mill, north-east of Ingham, which had its first crushing in 1883. The Victoria Mill has grown to eventually have the highest output of all of Queensland’s mills. The Herbert River Valley was especially suited to sugar cane, and there were extensive uncleared scrub lands still available as late as the 1940s for sugar cane growing.
Before the opening of the railway through northern Queensland, travel was by coastal boat, or steamer. Even in the early 20th century Hinchinbrook, Orpheus and Palm Islands were all mentioned as places ‘worthy of visiting.’ A guest house on Orpheus Island took tourists from Ingham in the 1940s. Ingham is situated near some spectacular areas of outstanding local beauty, and National Parks. The Wallaman Falls National Park, west of Ingham, has the largest single drop waterfall in Australia.
Now we build a railway, now we don’t…
Although a railway from Townsville to Ingham had been surveyed in 1883-84, transport along the coast was left to the small river steamers. Construction of the North Coast Railway from Townsville began on 11 September 1911. Being built by day labour, (labourers employed directly by the Queensland Railways), and passing through rough, or rain forested country, the small sections opened as funding became available. The sections were Kurukan on 14 April 1914, Rollingstone 5 April 1915, Coolbie 29 July 1918, Bambaroo 26 December 1918, Toobanna 21 July 1919 and finally Ingham on 1 December 1919.
The Wonders of Hinchinbrook
“At Ingham a sugar and dairying town watered by the pretty Palm Creek, the country opens out into vast plains, chiefly covered with sugar cane and dotted with homesteads. The town nestles among enormous shade trees.
Weeping figs, bamboos and the ubiquitous mango tree provide a magnificent background of various shades of green for the flaming red of the poinciana and the golden blooms of the cascara tree. From Ingham a narrow gauge tramline runs to Lucinda Point, eighteen miles distance, passing Halifax, one of the most cosmopolitan towns in Queensland.”
From the Commissioner for Queensland Railways, Sunshine Express Travel Guide