Barron is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

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. ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. In the , Barron had a population of 68 people.

Geography

Although Barron has been a suburb of Cairns rather than a

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

since 2002, as at 2021, the principal land use is farming with little residential development. The locality is bounded to the north-east by the

Captain Cook Highway The Captain Cook Highway is a short, regional highway in Queensland that originates in Cairns and terminates in Mossman, where it joins Mossman-Daintree Road, continuing to Daintree. It is a state-controlled regional road (number 20A). The ...

and in the other directions by Kamerunga Road (approximately). The

Tablelands railway line The Tablelands railway line is a railway line in North Queensland, Australia. It was opened in a series of sections between 1887 and 1916. It commences at Cairns and at its maximum extent, reached Ravenshoe at the southern end of the ...

also forms the southern boundary with Freshwater railway station () serving the suburb. The Barron River enters the suburb from the south-west ( Kamerunga) as does Freshwater Creek (formerly the Davidson River) with their confluence on the western boundary of the suburb (). The river then flows towards the north of the suburb and then to the south-east (along the boundary with Stratford), finally exiting to the east ( Machans Beach). The land is flat and low-lying (less than 10 metres above sea level). The main crop is

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

and a network of

cane tramways The rail network in Queensland, Australia, was the first in the world to adopt narrow gauge for a main line. In 2013, it claimed to be the second largest narrow gauge network in the world. The network consists of the following lines: *the N ...

pass through the suburb to deliver the harvested sugarcane to the Mulgrave Sugar Mill in Gordonvale.

Demographics

In the , Barron had a population of 42 people. In the , Barron had a population of 68 people.

Education

There are no schools in Barron. The nearest government primary schools are Caravonica State School in neighbouring Caravonica to the west, Machans Beach State School in neighbouring Machans Beach to the east, and Freshwater State School in neighbouring

Freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...

to the south. The nearest government secondary schools are Smithfield State High School in Smithfield to the north-west, Redlynch State College in Redlynch to the south-west, and

Cairns State High School Cairns State High School (CSHS) is an independent public secondary school located near the centre of Cairns, Queensland, Australia. It was founded in 1917 and is the oldest high school in Cairns. The school caters for grades 7 though 12 and ha ...

in Cairns North to the south-east.

Amenities

The Bunny Adair Park on Lower Freshwater Road (once in Freshwater but now in Barron) () is named after politician and Freshwater Hotel publican, Bunny Adair. The park has equestrian facilities and is home to the Freshwater Pony Club.

Attractions

Freshwater railway station () is a popular departure point for the

Kuranda Scenic Railway The Kuranda Scenic Railway is a tourist railway service in Australia that operates along the heritage-listed Cairns-to-Kuranda railway line. Constructed in 1891, the line runs from Cairns, Queensland, over the Great Dividing Range to the town o ...

with free parking, a restored historic railway station building, restaurant in heritage railway carriages, and a theatrette. The station is on Kumerunga Road near the junction with Old Smithfield Road.

References

External links

{{Cairns Region