Cape Cleveland is a rural

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

in the City of Townsville,

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. In the Cape Cleveland had a population of 155 people.

Geography

The locality is bounded to the north-west by

Cleveland Bay The Cleveland Bay is a breed of horse that originated in England during the 17th century, named after its colouring and the Cleveland district of Yorkshire. It is a well-muscled horse, with legs that are strong but short in relatio ...

(), to the north by the

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down the Australian northeast coast. Most of it is protected by the Fre ...

, to the north-west by Bowling Green Bay (). Cleveland Bay has smaller side bays of: * White Rock Bay * Red Rock Bay () while Bowling Green Bay has smaller side bays of: * Paradise Bay () *Chunda Bay () The locality has a number of headlands, including: * Red Rock Point, on the north-west coast to the immediate south of Red Rock Bay () *Cape Cleveland, the northernmost point of the locality, separating Cleveland Bay and Bowling Green Bay () *Cape Woora, on the north-east coast to the south of Paradise Bay () * Cape Ferguson, on the north-east coast to the immediate north of Chunda Bay () The coastline of the locality has the following beaches: * Launs Beach, on the north-west coast to the south of White Rock Bay () * Long Beach, on the north-west coast to the south of Red Rock Point () *Big Beach, on the north-east coast () extending to neighbouring Cungulla The locality has a number of mountains, from north to south: * Mount Cleveland on the headland Cape Cleveland () above sea level * The Cone () *Feltham Cone (also known as Mount Burrumbush) () The Bruce Highway and North Coast railway line form a small section of the south-west boundary with Mount Elliot. The locality was once served by the now-abandoned Clevedon railway station () beside the junction of the Bruce Highway and Cape Cleveland Road. Much of the locality is within the

Bowling Green Bay National Park Bowling Green Bay is a national park in the City of Townsville and Shire of Burdekin, Queensland, Australia, 1,103 km northwest of Brisbane, and 28 km south of Townsville and 59 km north of Ayr. It is a Ramsar Convention listed sit ...

and the Bowling Green Bay Conservation Park, which extend into the neighbouring localities of Mount Elliot, Cromarty, and Giru, and beyond. Apart from these protected areas and marshland in the west of the locality, there is a small area of rural residential development centred on Riley Road, some grazing on native vegetation, and some unused marshland. Around Cape Ferguson at the end of Cape Cleveland Road is a land parcel which is the headquarters of the Australian Institute of Marine Science(), where research into tropical marine science is undertaken.

History

The area takes its name from the headland Cape Cleveland, named by Captain Cook on his first voyage to the Pacific in 1770. Cook gave no reason for the name, but it is possible it was in honour of John Clevland, a former Secretary to the

British Admiralty The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of it ...

. Cook's original choice of name was "Iron Head", but this was crossed and replaced in a revision of his log shortly after leaving the cape. In the 2011 census, Cape Cleveland had a population of 124 people. In the Cape Cleveland had a population of 155 people.

Heritage listings

Cape Cleveland has a number of

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many ...

sites, including: * Cape Cleveland (): Cape Cleveland Lighthouse

Education

There are no schools in Cape Cleveland. The nearest government primary schools are Giru State School in neighbouring Giru to the south-east and Wulguru State School in Wulguru to the west. The nearest government secondary school is William Ross State High School in Annandale, Townsville.

Attractions

The public can book tours of the Australian Institute of Marine Science between March and October. As at 2021, the tours have been suspended due to the COVID pandemic. The Cape Cleveland Lighthouse is in private ownership, but visitors are welcome by arrangement and basic camping facilities are available. There is no road access, so the options are either a long bushwalk or by ferry or with an organised tour.

References

{{Reflist Suburbs of Townsville Localities in Queensland