Mossman is a rural town and

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 ...

in the

Shire of Douglas The Shire of Douglas is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Far North Queensland. It is located on the coast north of the city of Cairns, Queensland, Cairns. The shire, administered from the town of Mossman, Queensland, Mos ...

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 the administrative centre for the

Douglas Shire Council The Shire of Douglas is a local government area in Far North Queensland. It is located on the coast north of the city of Cairns. The shire, administered from the town of Mossman, covers an area of , and existed as a local government entity from ...

In the , the locality of Mossman had a population of 1,935 people.

Geography

Mossman in

Far North Queensland Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns, Queensland, Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stret ...

on the

Mossman River The Mossman River is a river in lower Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia. Geography The headwaters of the river rise under Devils Thumb on the Mount Carbine Tableland in the Great Dividing Range. The river flows through a deeply in ...

. Mossman is located on the Captain Cook Highway north of the regional city of

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 ...

, and east of the Mount Carbine Tableland. The Mossman River flows through the locality from west ( Finlayvale / Mossman Gorge) to east ( Newell / Bonnie Doon). Mossman Gorge, a popular attraction within Daintree National Park and the broader

Wet Tropics of Queensland The Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Site consists of approximately 8,940 km2 of Australian wet tropical forests growing along the north-east Queensland portion of the Great Dividing Range. The Wet Tropics of Queensland meets all f ...

World Heritage area is located west of town.

Sugar cane 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 ...

farming is an important aspect of the local economy, with Mossman Central Mill, the only sugar mill in the district (), processing the cane before sending it to

for shipping domestically and internationally. There is a network of cane tramways through Mossman and nearby sugarcane growing areas to deliver the harvested sugarcane to the mill.

History

The traditional language area of Kuka-Dyangan (also known as Djangun, Gugu Djangun and Kuka Djangun) includes landscape within the local government boundaries of the Douglas Shire and

Cook Shire The Shire of Cook (The Shire) is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia. The Shire covers most of the eastern and central parts of Cape York Peninsula, the most northerly section of the Australian mainland. It covers an area ...

. '' Kuku Yalanji'' (also known as ''Gugu Yalanji'', ''Kuku Yalaja'', and ''Kuku Yelandji'') is an

Australian Aboriginal language The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...

of the Mossman and Daintree areas of

North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its Tropical North Queensland, trop ...

. The language region includes areas within the local government area of

and

Shire of Cook The Shire of Cook (The Shire) is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia. The Shire covers most of the eastern and central parts of Cape York Peninsula, the most northerly section of the Australian mainland. It covers an area ...

, particularly the localities of Mossman, Daintree, Bloomfield River, China Camp, Maytown,

Palmer Palmer may refer to: People and fictional characters * Palmer (pilgrim), a medieval European pilgrim to the Holy Land * Palmer (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Palmer (surname), including a list of people and f ...

Cape Tribulation Cape Tribulation is a headland and coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas in northern Queensland, Australia. In the , Cape Tribulation had a population of 123 people. Geography The locality is north of Cairns. It is within the Daintree N ...

and Wujal Wujal. '' Yalanji'' (also known as ''Kuku Yalanji'', ''Kuku Yalaja'', ''Kuku Yelandji'', and ''Gugu Yalanji)'' is an Australian Aboriginal language of

. The traditional language region is

in the south to the Annan River in the north, bordered by the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

in the east and extending inland to west of Mount Mulgrave. This includes the local government boundaries of the

, the

and the Aboriginal Shire of Wujal Wujal and the towns and localities of

Cooktown Cooktown is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the '' Endeavour'', for ...

, Mossman, Daintree,

and Wujal Wujal. It includes the head of the Palmer River, the Bloomfield River, China Camp, Maytown, and Palmerville. The district was originally known as Mossman River after the river which flows through it. The

, in turn, was named by the explorer George Dalrymple on 6 December 1873 after Hugh Mosman who discovered gold in

Charters Towers Charters Towers is a rural town in the Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It is by road south-west from Townsville on the Flinders Highway. During the last quarter of the 19th century, the town boomed as the rich gold deposits und ...

. Dalrymple wrote ''"I named this river the Mossman River, after Mossman, an explorer and mining man, member of a very prominent mining family"''. The town was also known for a brief time as Hartsville after Daniel Hart, an early settler. Later the name was changed to ''Mossman''. The Mossman - Port Douglas parish of the Roman Catholic Vicariate Apostolic of Queensland (now the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns) was established in 1877. Mossman River Post Office opened by 1895 (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 1883) and was renamed Mossman in 1899. Mossman Central Sugar Mill commenced crushing on 23 August 1897. Mossman River State School opened on 31 January 1898 under head teacher Thomas Garland. It was renamed Mossman State School in 1910. A secondary department was opened on 1 February 1955, which operated until a separate Mossman State High School opened on 30 January 1973. The establishment and subsequent growth of Cairns and the completion of the Cairns Railway up through the Barron Gorge in 1891 gave a more direct gateway to the hinterland but, at this period, it was found that the Mossman district contained suitable land for sugar-growing. The establishment of the sugar mill at Mossman formed the nucleus of the town, which grew at the expense of Port Douglas. The district was served by two separate 2-foot (610 mm) gauge tramway systems. Both at one time handled passengers and general goods, as well as sugar cane. Mossman district owes its present prosperity to these tramways which pioneered the first reasonable transport in the neighbourhood, for trafficable roads followed later. In June 1905, tenders were called to erect a Catholic church in Mossman. On Sunday 21 January 1906, St Augustine's Catholic church was consecrated by

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

James Murray in the presence of several hundred spectators. On Thursday 16 March 1911, a cyclone hit Mossman and Port Douglas doing considerable damage. In Mossman, over 80 people were homeless and the Catholic and Anglican churches were destroyed. On Sunday 11 February 1912, a new St Augustine's Catholic Church was opened by Bishop Murray. It was in Junction Road (approx ), opposite the Mossman Butchery Company (established in 1927 at 3 Junction Road, ). As the population of Mossman grew, there was a desire to build a Catholic school, but the Junction Road site did not have the space, so a new site was purchased in Grogan Street. On Sunday 29 April 1934,

John Heavey John Alphonsus Heavey (1868–1948) was a Roman Catholic bishop in Queensland, Australia. He was the Vicar Apostolic of Cooktown and the Roman Catholic Bishop of Cairns. Early life Heavey was born on 13 November 1868 in Roundwood, County ...

officially opened the new St Augustine's complex at Grogan Street, consisting of a presbytery, a combined church and school building, and a convent. The architect was Vibert McKirdy Brown. St Augustine's Catholic School opened with 70 students, with the initial teachers being Sisters Mary Agnes, Gabriel, Cecelia and Pius of the

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute for women in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. In 2019, the institute had about 6,200 Religious sister, sisters worldwide, organized into a number ...

. On 30 January 1977, a new hexagonal-shaped St Augustine's church opened on the Grogan Street site with the former church being converted into school classrooms. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Mossman was attacked in a Japanese air raid on 31 July 1942. A single flying boat dropped a bomb that fell near a house and injured a child. Mossman State High School opened on 30 January 1973. Mossman Library opened in 1977. Prior to 2008, Mossman was the seat of the

. In 2008, the Shire of Douglas was amalgamated into 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. ...

, which was administered from both Cairns and Mossman. In 2014, the Shire of Douglas was de-amalgamated from Cairns Region and reinstated as Shire of Douglas.

Demographics

In the , the town of Mossman had a population of 1,740 people. In the , the locality of Mossman had a population of 1,937 people. In the , the locality of Mossman had a population of 1,935 people.

Heritage listings

Mossman has a number of

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

sites, including: * Exchange Hotel (formerly Daintree Inn), 2 Front Street * St David's Anglican Church, 3 Foxton Avenue * Mossman District Hospital, Johnston Road * Mossman Shire Hall and Douglas Shire Council Chambers, 8–14 Mill Street: * National Bank of Australasia Building, 11 Mill Street

Mossman Central Mill

Mossman Central Mill Company Limited opened in 1894 as co-operative sugar mill owned by local sugarcane farmers. The first sugarcane was crushed on 23 August 1897, the sugarcane coming from Bonnie Doon. Annie Rose fed the first sugarcane into the mill, with the mill producing its first sugar after crushing of cane for the initial season. In 1906, Mossman Mill became the first Queensland mill to crush over of cane. That season lasted just under 8 months, extending from June 1906 to late January 1907. Initially, sugar was transported by sea from Port Douglas, but later the sugar was taken by road to the bulk sugar terminal in Cairns. Louis John Frederick Prince (General Manager) pioneered the use of computers for cane payment accounting and, in 1971, Mossman purchased the first process control computer used in the world sugar industry. The Tropical North Steiner School opened in January 2022, offering Prep to Year 3 initially. In January 2023, the school surrendered its accreditation, effective October 2022. The mill closed in 2024. Local sugarcane farmers must now send their sugarcane to the Mulgrave Sugar Mill, over away, costing an extra $30 per tonne in transport, which means the expected 310,000 tonnes of cane will cost more than $9 million extra in transport. Farmers are seeking a subsidy from the

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a Parliament, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, ...

to assist with this extra cost.

Education

Mossman State School is a government primary (Prep–6) school for boys and girls at 30-34 Front Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 213 students with 16 teachers (13 full-time equivalent) and 22 non-teaching staff (13 full-time equivalent). Mossman State High School is a government secondary (7–12) school for boys and girls at 46–62 Front Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 611 students with 62 teachers (56 full-time equivalent) and 41 non-teaching staff (31 full-time equivalent). It includes a

special education Special education (also known as special-needs education, aided education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, and SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual di ...

program. St Augustine's School is a Catholic primary (Prep–6) school for boys and girls at Grogan Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 217 students with 16 teachers (14 full-time equivalent) and 13 non-teaching staff (6 full-time equivalent).

Amenities

operates Mossman Library at 14 Mill Street (). The Mossman 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 28 Front Street (). There are a number of churches in Mossman, including: * St Augustine's Catholic Church, at 24B Grogan Street (), within the Mossman-Port Douglas Parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns *St David's Anglican Church, 3 Foxton Avenue (), within the

Anglican Diocese of North Queensland The Diocese of North Queensland is a diocese of the Anglican Church of Australia, founded in 1879. It is situated in the northern part of the state of Queensland, Australia. As part of the Province of Queensland, it covers the Torres Strait Isl ...

*Mossman Uniting Church, 36 Front Street () *Mossman Seventh-Day Adventist Church, 60 Captain Cook Highway ()

Facilities

Mossman Hospital is a public hospital at 9 Hospital Street (). It has an accident and emergency services, clinics, and an in-patient pharmacy.

Sport

Mossman has a number of sporting clubs including the Coral Coast Judo Club.

References

External links

*
Town information from the Sydney Morning HeraldMemories of Mossman Oral History 2006-2008

State Library of Queensland State Library of Queensland (State Library) is the state public reference and research library of Queensland, Australia, operated by the Government of Queensland, state government. The Library is governed by the Library Board of Queensland, whi ...

{{authority control Towns in Queensland Populated places in Far North Queensland Shire of Douglas Queensland in World War II Localities in Queensland