Mount Carbine 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 Mareeba
The Shire of Mareeba is a Local government in Australia, local government area at the base of Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, inland from Cairns, Queensland, Cairns. The shire, administered from the town of Mareeba, Queensland, Mare ...
,
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 , the locality of Mount Carbine had a population of 94 people.
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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. It runs roughl ...
.
The Mitchell River Mitchell River may refer to:
Australia
*Mitchell River (Queensland)
*Mitchell River (Victoria)
*Mitchell River (Western Australia)
*Mann River (New South Wales) is sometimes referred to as Mitchell River.
Canada
*Mitchell River (Cross River)
*Mit ...
enters the locality from the west (Hurricane
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...
) 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 is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest.
Mount or Mounts may also refer to:
Places
* Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England
* Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, ...
* 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 Quee ...
* 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 Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) is an independent Australian nonprofit organisation, working to conserve threatened wildlife and ecosystems in Australia. AWC is the largest private owner and manager of land for conservation in Austral ...
. 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 free range (roam around) and consume wild vegetations in order to feed conversion ratio, convert the otherwise indigestible (by human diges ...
on native vegetation.
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 where it terminates. It is signed as State Route 81 from Mareeba to ...
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 ligh ...
that won the 1890 Melbourne Cup
The 1890 Melbourne Cup was a two-mile handicap horse race which took place on Tuesday, 4 November 1890.
This was the largest ever cup field with 39 runners. It was trainer Walter Hickenbotham's second out of four cup wins. The winner, Carbine, ...
. The town had been first settled around that time by those who had come to mine the wolfram (tungsten
Tungsten (also called wolfram) is a chemical element; it has symbol W and atomic number 74. It is a metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively in compounds with other elements. It was identified as a distinct element in 1781 and first ...
), 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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
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.
Between 2008 and 2013, Mount Carbine was within the Tablelands Region
The Tablelands Region is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia inland from the city of Cairns, Queensland, Cairns. Established in 2008, it was preceded by four previous local government areas ...
.
Demographics
In the , the locality of Mount Carbine had a population of 91 people.
In the , the locality of Mount Carbine had a population of 101 people.
In the , the locality of Mount Carbine had a population of 94 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 school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance; today, it usually involves online ...
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