Cumberland is a
ghost town
A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...
in the rural
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 ...
of
Georgetown within the
Shire of Etheridge
The Shire of Etheridge is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia in what is known as the Savannah Gulf region. Its economy is based on cattle grazing and mining.
It covers an area of , and has ...
in
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. It is located approximately west of the town of Georgetown on the
Gulf Developmental Road
Gulf Developmental Road is an Australian highway linking the Cairns, Queensland, Cairns and Normanton, Queensland, Normanton regions in northern Queensland, Australia. It is the only sealed (Asphalt concrete, asphalt) road linking these two reg ...
.
[
]
History
Boom
Cumberland was born when gold
Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
was discovered there in 1872 and the first prospecting claim was registered in that same year.[ A battery and cyanide plant was built by the creek in 1880.
The town site was surveyed in June 1882 by T.R. Geraghty.
High levels of gold production continued through the 1880s peaking in 1886, and the town grew to a population of about 400 people. In 1885 a police station and telegraph station were established. Cumberland Post Office opened on 3 April 1885 and closed in 1929.]Bank of New South Wales
The Bank of New South Wales (BNSW), also known as The Wales, was the first bank in Australia. It was established in 1817 in Sydney. During the 19th century, the bank opened branches throughout Australia and New Zealand, expanding into Oceania ...
opened branch offices in 1887. The township was officially declared in 1889. The school opened in 1891. In 1894 there were four hotels.[
In 1891 a tramway 800 metres long was built to transport the ore from the mine to the battery. To ensure a steady gradient for the heavy ore trucks, the tramway required cutting, embanking and bridges, which made it very expensive to build.][
]
Bust
By the 1890s, the easily obtained gold had been removed and a cyanide treatment plant was built to extract gold from the tailings.[
The mine and tramway closed in 1897 and the population decreased from that time. In 1899 the telegraph station closed and only one hotel remained.][ By 1900 the mine had produced 2,474 kg of gold at an average of 72 grams per tonne. In 1901 only 106 people remained in the town.
In 1901, Cumberland made the headline for the "Cumberland Poisoning Case". On 20 November 1901, two men, John "Scotty" Wilson and Edward Hollywood, were drinking at the hotel and then entered one of the bedrooms where they found a beer bottle and drank from it. Unfortunately it contained ]muriatic acid
Hydrochloric acid, also known as muriatic acid or spirits of salt, is an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride (HCl). It is a colorless solution with a distinctive pungent smell. It is classified as a strong acid. It is a component of the gast ...
. Both men were taken to Georgetown Hospital, where Hollywood died on 22 November and Wilson on 24 November. The police found there were no suspicious circumstances.
The school closed in 1915, while the post office and the last remaining hotel closed in 1930.[
John Williamson was one of the last remaining residents, continuing cyanide extraction into the 1940s.][
]
Present day
Only the square brick chimney from the Cumberland Battery remains as a memory of this town.
See also
* List of tramways in Queensland
List of tramways in Queensland provides three separate lists, each in alphabetical order of the key identifier. They are:
* Non sugar cane tramways, ordered by Tramway Name as contained in Wikipedia articles.
* Sugar cane tramways, ordered by Sug ...
References
{{Shire of Etheridge
Ghost towns in Queensland
Gold mines in Queensland
Geography of Far North Queensland
Shire of Etheridge