Founders Anchor - Cairns, Queensland
S 16° 55.254 E 145° 46.790
55K E 370058 N 8128792
Located on the Cairns Esplanade this Anchor is a monument to the foundation of the port of Cairns.
Waymark Code: WM7A2V
Location: Queensland, Australia
Date Posted: 09/25/2009
Views: 12
Although it is believed that Captain James Cook was the first known European to visit the site (where todays City of Cairns is located) in his first Voyage of Discovery in June 1770. It would take over 100 years (due in no small part to dense vegetation, severe cyclones and the associated wet season, treacherous reefs, disease and dangerous animals such as crocodiles) before white settlement took a firm hold in the region.
The discovery of gold by the early explorers started development, as is often the case in isolated and remote areas around the world. The areas north of Cairns, particularly Cooktown were initially established as frontier towns to support the ongoing gold rush in the area.
On 7 October 1876, the Governor of Queensland, William Wellington Cairns, proclaimed a new northern port at Trinity Bay.
On 1 November 1876, the township was inaugurated at a luncheon given by Captain T. A. Lake on board the Government ship, SS Victoria. This is regarded as the official birth date of Cairns. The first public land sales in February 1877 were supplemented, three months later, by the construction of the first local saw mill making use of the abundant natural timber resources.
This Anchor was placed as a monument to the founders and first government officials that arrived by boat and pitched their tents opposite the site of the present-day Pacific International hotel 6 October 1876.
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