Mount Carbine is a rural town and

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

Shire of Mareeba The Shire of Mareeba is a local government area at the base of Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, inland from Cairns. The shire, administered from the town of Mareeba, covered an area of , and existed as a local government entity f ...

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 , the locality of Mount Carbine had a population of 101 people.

Geography

The locality is bounded to the east by the ridge of the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs rough ...

. The Mitchell River enters the locality from the west (

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

) where it forms part of the western boundary of the locality, before flowing east and forming part of the southern boundary. It then exits to the south ( Southedge). The Mcleod River forms part of the western boundary on its confluence with the Mitchell River. The north and east of the locality are within a number of protected areas (from north to south): * Mount Windsor National Park *

Mount Lewis National Park Mount Lewis National Park is national park in both the Shire of Mareeba and Douglas Shire of Far North Queensland, Australia. It is adjacent to both Daintree National Park and Mount Spurgeon National Park. It is part of the Wet Tropics of Queens ...

* Mount Spurgeon National Park A further comprising most of the south and west of the locality is part of the Brooklyn Sanctuary, a nature reserve owned and operated by the not-for-profit Australian Wildlife Conservancy. The sanctuary includes some former mine sites. Almost all of the locality is used for nature conservation. The exceptions include what remains of the town of Mount Carbine in the south of the locality and some farms around Butcher Creek and Mary Creek, mostly engaged in

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to roam around and consume wild vegetations in order to convert the otherwise indigestible (by human gut) cellulose within grass and other ...

on native vegetation. Mount Carbine QLD 4871, Australia - panoramio

The

Mulligan Highway The Mulligan Highway is a state highway in Queensland, Australia. It runs for approximately 266 km between Mareeba and Cooktown, on the east coast of Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Q ...

enters the locality from the south-east ( Mount Molloy), passes through the town, and exits to the west ( Desailly). Mount Carbine has the following mountains: * Carbine Hill (Pulchun) () * Lighthouse Mountain (Cudgee Cudgee) () * Little Alto () * Mount Alto () * Mount Armit () * Mount Fraser () * Mount Misery () * Mount Spurgeon () * Ords Hill () * Roots Mount ()

History

The town of Mount Carbine is said to be named after the horse

Carbine A carbine ( or ) is a long gun that has a barrel shortened from its original length. Most modern carbines are rifles that are compact versions of a longer rifle or are rifles chambered for less powerful cartridges. The smaller size and lighter ...

that won the 1890 Melbourne Cup. The town had been first settled around that time by those who had come to mine the wolfram (

tungsten Tungsten, or wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W and atomic number 74. Tungsten is a rare metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively as compounds with other elements. It was identified as a new element in 1781 and first isolat ...

), discovered here that same year. These early miners, perhaps believing that their new settlement would become well known for its wealth, apparently decided that the famous Cup winner’s name was the most suitable. In its early years, the town was entirely reliant upon the area’s wolfram deposits for its viability. The main period of growth in mining was from 1907, with John Moffat’s Irvinebank Company undertaking the major development of the mines. In this early period, Mount Carbine’s residents were predominantly those who were associated in some way with the wolfram mines, as well as their families. Mine production expanded quite rapidly in the period up to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and at its height the town had about 300 residents along with three hotels, a police station and a school as well as a range of small businesses. Mount Carbine’s mines ceased operations in 1914, but were reopened after World War I, thereafter being worked intermittently, depending the level of demand and price. But during the 1920s, demand slowed substantially rendering the mines uneconomic. There was however another brief period of resurgence towards the end of the 1960s with mining again being undertaken. This lasted for some twenty years before the mines were again closed in the 1980s. The surviving useful plant and equipment was subsequently sold progressively or otherwise disposed of, mainly during the early 1990s. Over time, as with other similar mining areas, progressive rehabilitation of the old mine sites has been undertaken. Mount Carbine Post Office opened by September 1907 (a

receiving office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

had been open from 1906) and closed in 1970. Mount Carbine Provisional School opened in 1908, becoming Mount Carbine State School on 1 January 1909. It closed due to low student numbers in 1927. It re-opened in 1939, closing permanently in 1957. It was on the western side of Pump Road (approx ). Brooklyn Sanctuary was purchased in 2004. In the , Mount Carbine had a population of 91. Between 2008 and 2013, Mount Carbine was within the

Tablelands Region The Tablelands Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia inland from the city of Cairns. Established in 2008, it was preceded by four previous local government areas which dated back more than a century. On 1 January ...

. In the , the locality of Mount Carbine had a population of 101 people.

Education

There are no schools in Mount Carbine. The nearest government primary school is Mount Molloy State School in neighbouring Mount Molloy to the south-east. The nearest government secondary school is Mossman State High School in Mossman to the east. Given the size of the locality, some parts of the locality may be too distant from these schools for a daily commute; alternatives would be

distance education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...

and boarding school.

Amenities

The town has a hotel / motel, a roadhouse, and a caravan park. Mt Carbine Cemetery is on Cemetery Road south of the Mulligan Highway (). It is operated by the Mareeba Shire Council.

References

Attribution

{{authority control Mining towns in Queensland Towns in Queensland Shire of Mareeba Localities in Queensland