1885

Irrigation of sugar cane lands introduced by George Russell Drysdale.

Municipal government in Cairns begins with the creation of a borough.

Discovery of tin deposits at Annan River, south of Cooktown. 

50 km of track from Cooktown to Normanby were in operation. 

The owners of Croydon Downs discovered gold, prompting a considerable rush.

A railway connection from north of Eton to Mackay opened.

Young and Moffat erected smelters at Montalbion.

Ingham State primary school opens.

The double-storey Day Dawn Hotel replaces the Telegraph Hotel in Ingham. 

The Colonial Sugar Refining Company's Goondi Mill opens. The opening coincided with a fall in sugar prices that caused  Fitzgerald and Co to fail, but CSR's financial strength allowed it to survive the downturn.

Area around Machans Beach was surveyed.

The first of 150 Javanese labourers arrive in Mackay to work for CSR's Homebush and Victoria Plantations.  Many descendants of the these immigrants still live in the Mackay district.

January

31 Shire of Burke was proclaimed.

August 

10 Railway line officially opened. The main line went up the Pioneer Valley to Hamilton (Mirani), one line went south to Eton via Newbury Junction.

September     

Cabinet approved working plans for Cairns-Kuranda railway

 

© Ian Hughes 2013