Mareeba


Mareeba is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Mareeba in Far North Queensland, Australia. The town is above sea level on the confluence of the Barron River, Granite Creek and Emerald Creek. Between 2008 and 2013, it was within the Tablelands Region. The town's name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning meeting of the waters.

History

Prior to European settlement, the area around Mareeba was inhabited by the Muluridji people. They maintained a hunter/gatherer existence in the area between Mount Carbine, Mareeba, Rumula and Woodville, mainly concentrated between Biboohra and Mount Molloy. In the local Aboriginal language, Mareeba means meeting of the waters - referring to the point at which the Barron River is joined by Granite Creek.
On 26 May 1875 James Venture Mulligan became the first European officially to see the future site of Mareeba when he rode up the eastern bank of the Barron River, and passed the junctions of Emerald Creek and Granite Creek.
The Mareeba area was first settled by Europeans in 1877 by John Atherton, who arrived with cattle at Emerald End, which is just north of the town today. Mareeba quickly became a busy coach stop for Cobb & Co on the road from Port Douglas to Herberton. When the railway arrived in 1893, Mareeba grew into a busy town.
Mareeba Post Office opened on 25 August 1893. A Mareeba Diggings Post Office opened by 1893 and closed in 1905.
From 1942 to 1945, up to 10,000 Australian and US service personnel used Mareeba Airfield as a staging post for battles in New Guinea and the Pacific. The Americans referred to it as Hoevet Field in honour of Major Dean Carol "Pinky" Hoevet who was killed on 16 August 1942. Units that were based at Mareeba during World War II included No. 5 Squadron RAAF, No. 100 Squadron RAAF, the Australian 33rd Light A-A Battery, 19th Bomb Group USAAC, 43rd Bomb Group USAAC and 8th Fighter Group USAAC.
Mareeba State School opened on 28 August 1893. Mareeba State High School opened on 25 January 1960.
Mareeba Library opened in 1958 and underwent a major refurbishment in 1985.
At the 2006 census, Mareeba had a population of 6,806.
In the 2011 census, Mareeba had a population of 10,181 people.
In October 2011, most of the land of the former state farm / research station at Kairi was sold by the Queensland Government, retaining only 26 hectares. The sale of the land was to fund the establishment of the Agri-Science Hub at Peters Street in Mareeba. The hub focusses on agricultural research and development, together with education and training. James Cook University is a partner of the hub, researching tropical agriculture, aquaculture and biosecurity. The hub opened on 16 December 2011.
According to the, Mareeba includes the largest Italian Australian community of any suburb in Queensland, numbering 1,608 individuals and making up 10.8% of the town's population.

Heritage listings

Mareeba has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
Mareeba has a tropical savanna climate.
Mareeba's tag line on signs coming into the region is "300 sunny days a year" this is because Mareeba is in what is called a rain shadow.

Economy

Numerous crops are grown throughout Mareeba Shire, including avocados, mangoes, lychees, longans, sugar cane, cashews, macadamias, bananas, pineapples, tea tree oil, coffee, cotton and a variety of vegetables and tropical fruits. Poultry and cattle are also common. Tobacco was once the main grown crop of the local economy, but is no longer grown within the Mareeba shire.
The town's main street is the Mulligan Highway which branches off from the Kennedy Highway when coming in from Cairns away passing localities such as Speewah, Kuranda and The Barron Gorge.
Tourism also contributes to the local economy. Tourist attractions in the Mareeba Shire include the Golden Drop Mango Winery, Jaques Coffee Plantation, Coffee Works, Mareeba Heritage Museum, Mareeba Rock Wallabies and Granite Gorge Nature Park, Emerald Creek Falls, Davies Creek Falls
The Lotus Glen Correctional Centre is located in Arriga, 14 km; 9 miles outside Mareeba, and is generally considered to be in Mareeba.

Education

Mareeba has two primary schools, two secondary schools and a TAFE campus. There are also several day care centres in the town.
Mareeba State School opened on 28 August 1893 and Mareeba State High School opened on 25 January 1960.
St Thomas of Villanova Parish School opened on 1 January 1909 and for a period of two years during World War Two, Mareeba State School was taken over by the army, so St Thomas’ accommodated the entire school population of Mareeba. St Thomas' celebrated their centenary in 2009.
On 24 January 2006 St Stephen's Catholic College opened after a nearly 10 year approval process regarding the provision of Catholic secondary education.

Health

Mareeba Hospital is in the Tablelands Health District. It provides 52 beds, with surgical, maternity, pediatric, outpatient, emergency and x-ray facilities.

Sport and entertainment

Sporting teams

Mareeba's local sporting teams are:
The Mareeba United Football Club, known as the Mareeba Bulls is based at Borzi Park, Mareeba: the Bulls have dominated the local football scene for the past decade. The Bulls were Grand Final winners in 2003, premiers, Grand Final Winners and NQ Champions in 2004, FNQ premiers and NQ Champions in 2005, FNQ Grand final winners and 2006 and FNQ premier and NQ Champions in 2008. The sustained success of the Bulls has brought the title for Mareeba as 'Football Capital of North Queensland'. Then in 2009, the Mareeba Bulls entered the Queensland State League, as the FNQ Bulls, incorporating the entire FNQ Football area, being based at the Bulls home ground at Borzi Park, Mareeba. The club then returned to the FNQ premier league in 2013 after the demise of the QLD state league.
In 2013 the existed the QSL to focus back on their regional competition and junior base and the success again returned in 2014 the club returned to the status of "Football Capital of North Queensland" bringing to the club nine pieces of silverware including the treble in the Premier and Reserve divisions, plus the double in the 2nd division, plus the Mazda Cup. In 2015, the Mareeba Bulls Premier side staged one of the best comebacks seen in FNQ Football history with a come from behind 3-2 win. Down 2-0 with a handful of minutes to go, the Bulls did the unthinkable and scored 3 goals in the space of 7 minutes.
The Mareeba Rodeo and Festival is held annually, with the first Affiliated Mareeba Rodeo held in July 1949. The rodeo is hosted at the Kerribee Park Rodeo Grounds, located slightly out of town on route to Dimbulah. In 2014, the attendance was 13 000, almost double the town's normal population. A parade through the town is held, and the Rodeo Queen is crowned. A ute muster is often staged over the same weekend as the rodeo. In 1999 Mareeba District Rodeo Association Inc. celebrated their 50 years Golden Jubilee of the foundation of the Association and 20 years of the opening of "Kerribee Park".

Radio

Mareeba is serviced by the following radio stations:
The FNQ Country Music Festival and Talent Search is held annually at Kerribee Park Rodeo Grounds. The event is hosted by the Walkamin Country Music Club.

Hotels

Mareeba has three hotels:
Mareeba has representatives from a large number of religions and has as many places of worship.
Each year, on the second Sunday of September, St Thomas's Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of the Chain. The celebration begins with a procession through various streets of Mareeba and culminates in a fireworks display.
The Mareeba Mosque opened on 25 April 1970 by the Mareeba Shire Chairman. It was built by the Albanian Australian Islam Society.

Amenities

operates a public library at 221 Byrnes Street. The library facility opened in 1958, with a major refurbishment in 1985 and minor refurbishment in 2013.
The Mareeba branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association meets at the CWA Hall on the corner of Dempster Street and Wilkes Street. The Cairns Aerial Outpost branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association meets at 15 Wilson Street.

Photo gallery

Notable residents