Smithfield is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

in the

Cairns Region The Cairns Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Queensland, Australia, centred on the regional city of Cairns. It was established in 2008 by the amalgamation of the City of Cairns and the Shires of Douglas and Mulgrave. H ...

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 Smithfield had a population of 5,303 people.

Geography

Smithfield is about to the north of Cairns City,

, Australia. The

Captain Cook Highway The Captain Cook Highway is a short, regional highway in Queensland which originates in Cairns and terminates in Mossman, where it joins Mossman-Daintree Road, continuing to Daintree. The Captain Cook Highway is used to connect the CBD of Ca ...

passes through Smithfield and the

Kuranda Range Road The Kuranda Range road is an informally named section of the Kennedy Highway in Queensland, Australia. The road traverses the Macalister Range near Cairns (). The section of road connects Smithfield, Queensland, Smithfield, a suburb of Cairns ...

(the first section of the

Kennedy Highway The Kennedy Highway is a highway in northern Queensland, Australia. It runs as National Route 1 for approximately 243 km from Smithfield, on the northern outskirts of Cairns, to the Gulf Developmental Road in the vicinity of Forty Mile S ...

) branches from the Captain Cook Highway at Smithfield.

History

Irukandji (also known as Yirrgay, Yurrgay, Yirrgandji, Djabuganjdji and Yirgay) is a language of

Far North Queensland Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stretches north to the Torres Strait, and west to the Gulf C ...

, particularly the area around the

Kuranda Range Kuranda may refer to: Places * Kuranda, Queensland, a town on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland, Australia ** Kuranda Butterfly Farm, the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary, situated in the centre of Kuranda Village ** Kuranda Fig Tree Ave ...

and Lower Barron River. The Irukandji language region includes the

. Smithfield was first established in 1876, and was a rival for dominance of the area to Cairns at that time. It was named in honour of prospector and explorer, William "Bill" Smith, who had a camp at this place. On

Boxing Day Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to the poor, today Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday. It ...

1877, Bill Smith added further notoriety to the town named after him by murdering a man and then shooting himself in the main street. After a devastating flooding of the Barron River on which the settlement was situated during a

cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an anti ...

in March 1879, the original site was abandoned. It is now a suburb of Cairns, and is the business and trade centre of the Cairns 'Northern Beaches'. Smithfield Provisional School opened on 7 May 1900. On 1 January 1909 it became Smithfield State School. It closed in 1964. Smithfield State High School opened on 24 January 1983. Smithfield library opened in 1998 and underwent a major refurbishment in 2008. At the the suburb recorded a population of 3,707. In the Smithfield had a population of 5,303 people.

Education

Smithfield State High School is a government secondary (7-12) school for boys and girls at O'Brien Road (). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 1,122 students with 99 teachers (96 full-time equivalent) and 48 non-teaching staff (37 full-time equivalent). It includes a special education program. There are no primary schools in Smithfield. The nearest government primary schools are Carvonica State School in neighbouring Carvonica to the south, Trinity Beach State School in neighbouring Trinity Beach to the north and Yorkeys Knob State School at neighbouring Yorkeys Knob to the east. The Cairns Campus of

James Cook University James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cairn ...

is in Smithfield ().

Facilities

Smithfield Police Station is at 1119 Captain Cook Highway (). Smithfield Fire Station is a 21 Salvado Drive (). Smithfield Ambulance Station is at 1 Stanton Road (). Smithfield Community Health Centre is at 16 Danbulan Street (). The Animal Protection Society is at 233-239 Mcgregor Road ().

Amenities

Smithfield Library, Cheviot Street, Smithfield, 2018 02

Cairns Regional Council The Cairns Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Queensland, Australia, centred on the regional city of Cairns. It was established in 2008 by the amalgamation of the City of Cairns and the Shires of Douglas and Mulgrave. H ...

operates a library at 70 Cheviot Street (). The Smithfield branch of the

Queensland Country Women's Association The Queensland Country Women's Association (QCWA) is the Queensland chapter of the Country Women's Association in Australia. The association seeks to serve the interests of women and children in rural areas in Australia through a network of loca ...

meets at the CWA Hall on Kamerunga Road, Caravonica (). It is between the Caravonica State School and the

Australian Armour and Artillery Museum The Australian Armour and Artillery Museum is a privately owned museum dedicated to tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery from the Second World War and post war periods. It was officially opened in 2014, in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. Th ...

. Smithfield Shopping Centre is at 150 Captain Cook Highway (). The Smithfield Post Office is within the shopping centre (). Northern Cairns Uniting Church is at 47 Cheviot Street (). On Leisure Park Road, there are a number of community facilities including Marlin Coast Recreation Centre (), Marlin Coast Swiimming and Fitness Centre (), North Queensland Surf Lifesaving (), and Ivanhoes Rugby League Club (). Campus Village is a shopping centre on Faculty Close () across the Captain Cook Highway from the James Cook University campus.

Attractions

The lower terminal of the

Skyrail Rainforest Cableway Skyrail Rainforest Cableway is a scenic tourist cableway running above the Barron Gorge National Park, in the Wet Tropics of Queensland’s World Heritage Area in Australia. It operates from the Smithfield terminal () in Cairns to the ...

is at 6 Skyrail Drive (). The cableway takes visitors through the rainforest of the

Barron Gorge National Park Barron Gorge National Park is a protected area in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. It is predominantly within the locality of Barron Gorge. Geography The park is 1,404 km northwest of Brisbane and from Kuranda. Barron Gorge ...

to Kuranda at the top 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 ...

Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park The history of Cairns in Queensland, Australia, is a transition of a port from a shanty town to a modern city, following an uncertain start because of competition from the newly created neighbouring community of Port Douglas. A succession of major ...

was at 4 Skyrail Drive (). The park demonstrated the authentic culture and traditions of the local

Djabugay people The Djabugay people (also known as Djabuganydji or Tjapukai) are a group of Australian Aboriginal people who are the original inhabitants of mountains, gorges, lands and waters of a richly forested part of the Great Dividing Range including t ...

. The Tjapukai park closed down in January 2021. Australian Armour & Artillery Museum, 2016 05

The

is at 2 Skyrail Drive (). It claims to have the largest collection of armoured vehicles and artillery in the Southern Hemisphere.

References

External links

* {{Cairns Region Suburbs of Cairns 1876 establishments in Australia Populated places established in 1876