John
Winfield (Eacham shire chairman) rode on the first train to Millaa Millaa 1921
and he rode on the last train out of Millaa Millaa in 1965.
DID
YOU KNOW...
The
first doctor to practise in Malanda was Dr. Bernie Quinn in 1921?
.
DID YOU KNOW...
The Premier
of Queensland Ted Theodore rode a horse from Millaa Millaa to Innisfail in 1922
to assess the possibility of a road.
DID YOU KNOW...
The first
licensee of the Malanda Hotel was Catherine English.
DID YOU KNOW...
Approximately
60,000 Australian soldiers were treated at Rocky Creek hospitals during WWII .
DID YOU KNOW...
The first
gold found in the Shire in 1879 was in the upper reaches of the Mulgrave River.
DID YOU KNOW...
The lease
of the Majestic Theatre was granted to Malanda Little Theatre Company in 1981.
DID YOU KNOW...
The dairy industry was largely instrumental in the clearing and closer settlement of the tablelands.
. LOCAL HISTORY
Geology
.
The
area of the Atherton Tablelands is largely covered by many basalt lava flows.
To the South, the lava flowed down to the East Palmerstone area. To the
east, the flows are held back by the metamorphic and granite of Bartle Frere,
Belenden Ker and the Tinaroo Ranges. The flows extend north to Mareeba.
To
the west, huge acid volcanic flow mixed with older metamorphic and newer granite
form the great dividing ranges. This area is rich in minerals.
.
Aborigines
.
Five tribal
groups live in the Atherton Tablelands region.
The Mamu to the south the Ngadjon in the middle and the Yidinji
to the north. To the west is the country of the Jidabal and Barbarum.
These
rainforest peoples were short in stature with tight curly hair. They used vibrantly
painted shields and large wooden swords.
.
The Explorers
.
Edmund Kennedy, Jacky Jacky and 11 men explored Cape York Peninsula in 1848.
They landed at Kennedy Bay, struggled through mangrove swamps and rainforest to
reach the Herbert River,and crossed it at a point just east of Mt Garnet. They
skirted the mountains near Irvinebank and picked up Emu Creek and followed north
Only Jacky Jacky made the whole trip to the ship at Albany Bay. More
information (28 kb .doc)
. Christie Palmerston is believed to be the first white man to pass through
this area, the beautiful Palmerston Highway is a lasting memorial to this fearless
explorer. On his trips from Herberton through to the coast he camped at the foot
of the renowned Millaa Millaa Falls. In his travels he established a good relationship
with the Aborigines and came to understand them well, this before their contact
with white men changed their way of life forever. .
Malanda
.
Malanda, the administrative centre of the former Eacham Shire, was originally known as Tutamoulin,
but changed because it was likely to be confused with Tumoulin on the Evelyn Tableland.
The Shire was formed in 1911, and at the first meeting at Yungaburra it was decided
that Malanda would be the site of the Shire office.
The hotel was opened
in December 1911 to cater to the hundreds of navies working on building the railway.
The Malanda area was settled by families
from the Northern Rivers of NSW, many of whom walked their dairy herds the 2000
kilometres to their new selections. These dairies supplied the Malanda Butter
factory which produced its first butter in 1921. Today, the factory primarily
supplies milk and boasts the "longest milk run in the world."
.
Millaa Millaa
.
The
early settlers in the Millaa Millaa district, commenced taking up land in 1910
to develop timber and dairy industries. The railway line was extended to Millaa
Millaa in 1921 which encouraged the local farmers to erect their own co-operative
Butter Factory.
This business evolved into the Millaa Millaa Cheese Factory
which distributed cheese throughout Queensland. With the closure of the sawmill
and the cheese factory in the 1980s, Millaa Millaa changed to a tourism and service
centre for the local area.
.
Yungaburra
.
Originally
known as Allumbah Pocket, the town was first surveyed in 1886 as part of a village
settlement scheme. In 1910, The Tolga-Johnstone Railway was constructed and the
town was shifted and centered around the railway station. Because of the confusion
with the name of the coastal town of Allumbah, the name was changed to Yungaburra.
Dairy farming and timber milling were the town's
main industries. Today, the heritage listed buildings and the quaint village setting
delights visitors.
