Ingham is approximately north of Townsville and north of the state capital, Brisbane. The town is positioned about 17 km inland within the Herbert River floodplain where Palm Creek drains the low-lying lands. It is surrounded by sugar cane farms which are serviced by a number of private railways. The North Coast railway line passes through the town, which is served by the Ingham railway station. The Bruce Highway also passes through the town.
History
Prior to European settlement, the Ingham area was inhabited by the Warakamai People. Warrgamay is an Australian Aboriginal language in North Queensland. The language region includes the Herbert River area, Ingham, Hawkins Creek, Long Pocket, Herbert Vale, Niagara Vale, Yamanic Creek, Herbert Gorge, Cardwell, Hinchinbrook Island and the adjacent mainland. The town was founded in 1864. It was gazetted as the local government areaHinchinbrook Division in 1879, becoming the Shire of Hinchinbrook in 1903. The town is named after William Bairstow Ingham, a pioneer sugar planter on the Herbert River in 1874. Lower Herbert Post Office opened on 1 January 1871 and was renamed Ingham in 1882. A gaol opened in July 1886; previously there had only been a police lock-up. The town has a strong Italian and Spanish history with the 1920s and 1930s seeing a large influx of immigrants from these countries. The Black Hand Gang, made up of some of these immigrants, terrorised the town in the 1930s with bribery and corruption, forming a dark chapter in the town's history. Ingham State High School opened on 2 February 1952. Ingham State School opened on 4 May 1855 and celebrated its Golden Jubilee in December 1935. The current Hinchinbrook Shire Library opened in 2011 in Ingham. In March 2018, flood waters inundated properties in Ingham following heavy rain.
Population
According to the of Population, there were 4,357 people in Ingham.
81.2% of people were born in Australia. The next most common country of birth was Italy at 5.0%.
82.5% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Italian at 7.2%
The most common responses for religion were Catholic 45.8%, Anglican 15.5%, No Religion 13.1%.
Industry
Ingham is the service centre for many sugarcane plantations, which are serviced by the two sugar mills located in the Ingham district: Victoria Sugar Mill, which is the largest sugar mill in Australia and one of the largest in the southern hemisphere, and Macknade Mill, which is the oldest operating sugar mill in Queensland. Both mills are owned and operated by Wilmar Sugar Australia Limited. The majority of the cane is transported to the mills by light tramlines. Once processed by the mills, the raw sugar is then transported by tramline to the bulk sugar terminal at the nearby seaside port of Lucinda and loaded onto ships for export via the longest pier in the southern hemisphere. Other industries in the Ingham area include cattle, watermelons, rice, horticulture, fishing, timber and tourism.
Attractions
The town is home to the regional art gallery called TYTO Regional Art Gallery which sits alongside the TYTO Wetlands and Enrico's Restaurant. In the same precinct is the Hinchinbrook Shire Library located at 73-75 McIllwraith Street. Wallaman Falls are about 40 km to the west of the town. Hinchinbrook Island is about 20 km north of Ingham.
Australian-Italian Festival
The Australian-Italian Festival is held in Ingham the first weekend in August each year and is one of the most popular events in the region, with thousands of people attending the event. The festival celebrates Ingham's cultural background, dating from the 1890s, when the first Italian immigrants came to the region. More than half the population of the town are of Italian descent. The town is known as "Little Italy". The annual festival, held at TYTO Wetlands, began as an idea from a community workshop. Many Italians visit from Italy to celebrate the event, reinforcing the cultural ties between the inhabitants of Ingham and Italy.
Ingham has a tropical monsoon climate. Like the rest of Far North Queensland, it has a very humid and hot wet season that runs from November to April and a less humid and warm dry season that runs from May to October. Ingham is part of the Queensland Wet Tropics bioregion.
Following the devastation caused by cyclone Yasi in Far North Queensland in February 2011, Ingham is one of a number of towns where a cyclone shelter was built. The Ingham cyclone shelter is capable of withstanding winds of more than per hour, as experienced in a category five cyclone. The building serves as a multi-purpose sports facility for the Ingham State High School while in a cyclone it provides shelter for up to 800 people. The shelter was opened by Premier Campbell Newman in January 2013.
