Mossman, Queensland


Mossman is a town and a locality in Far North Queensland, Australia, on the Mossman River. It is within the local government area of Shire of Douglas. In the, Mossman had a population of 1,937 people.

Geography

Mossman is located on the Captain Cook Highway north of the regional city of Cairns, and east of the Mount Carbine Tableland. The Mossman River flows through the locality from west to east.
Mossman Gorge, a popular attraction within Daintree National Park, is located west of town.
Sugar cane farming is an important aspect of the local economy, with Mossman Central Mill, the only sugar mill in the district, processing the cane before sending it to Cairns for shipping domestically and internationally. There is a network of cane tramways through Mossman and nearby sugarcane growing areas to deliver the harvested sugarcane to the mill.

History

The traditional language area of Kuka-Dyangan includes landscape within the local government boundaries of the Douglas Shire and Cook Shire.
Kuku Yalanji is an Australian Aboriginal language of the Mossman and Daintree areas of North Queensland. The language region includes areas within the local government area of Shire of Douglas and Shire of Cook, particularly the localities of Mossman, Daintree, Bloomfield River, China Camp, Maytown, Palmer, Cape Tribulation and Wujal Wujal.
Yalanji is an Australian Aboriginal language of Far North Queensland. The traditional language region is Mossman River in the south to the Annan River in the north, bordered by the Pacific Ocean in the east and extending inland to west of Mount Mulgrave. This includes the local government boundaries of the Shire of Douglas, the Shire of Cook and the Aboriginal Shire of Wujal Wujal and the towns and localities of Cooktown, Mossman, Daintree, Cape Tribulation and Wujal Wujal. It includes the head of the Palmer River, the Bloomfield River, China Camp, Maytown, and Palmerville.
The district was originally known as Mossman River after the river which flows through it. The Mossman River, in turn, was named by the explorer George Dalrymple on 6 December 1873 after Hugh Mosman who discovered gold in Charters Towers. Dalrymple wrote "I named this river the Mossman River, after Mossman, an explorer and mining man, member of a very prominent mining family". The town was also known for a brief time as Hartsville after Daniel Hart, an early settler. Later the name was simplified to Mossman''.
Mossman Central Sugar Mill commenced crushing on 23 August 1897.
Mossman River Post Office opened by 1895 and was renamed Mossman in 1899.
Mossman River State School opened on 31 January 1898 under head teacher Thomas Garland. It was renamed Mossman State School in 1910. A secondary department was opened on 1 February 1955, which operated until a separate Mossman State High School opened on 30 January 1973.
The establishment and subsequent growth of Cairns and the completion of the Cairns Railway up through the Barron Gorge in 1891 gave a more direct gateway to the hinterland but, at this period, it was found that the Mossman district contained suitable land for sugar-growing. The establishment of the sugar mill at Mossman formed the nucleus of the town, which grew at the expense of Port Douglas.
The district was served by two separate 2-foot gauge tramway systems. Both at one time handled passengers and general goods, as well as sugar cane. Mossman district owes its present prosperity to these tramways which pioneered the first reasonable transport in the neighbourhood, for trafficable roads followed later.
St Augustine's Catholic School opened in 1934. It was established by Sisters Mary Agnes, Gabriel, Cecelia and Pius of the Sisters of Mercy and opened with 70 students.
During World War II, Mossman was attacked in a Japanese air raid on 31 July 1942. A single flying boat dropped a bomb that fell near a house and injured a child.
Mossman State High School opened on 30 January 1973.
Mossman Library opened in 1977.
At the 2006 census, Mossman had a population of 1,740.

Mossman Central Mill

Mossman Central Mill Company Limited opened in 1894 as co-operative sugar mill owned by local sugarcane farmers. The first sugarcane was crushed on 23 August 1897, the sugarcane comgin from Bonnie Doon. Annie Rose fed the first sugarcane into the mill, with the mill producing its first sugar after crushing of cane for the initial season.
In 1906, Mossman Mill became the first Queensland mill to crush over 100,000 tonnes of cane. That season lasted just under 8 months, extending from June 1906 to late January 1907.
Initially, sugar was transported by sea from Port Douglas, but later the sugar was taken by road to the bulk sugar terminal in Cairns.
Louis John Frederick Prince pioneered the use of computers for cane payment accounting and, in 1971, Mossman purchased the first process control computer used in the world sugar industry.

Education

Mossman State School is a government primary school for boys and girls at 30-34 Front Street. In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 213 students with 16 teachers and 22 non-teaching staff.
Mossman State High School is a government secondary school for boys and girls at 46-62 Front Street. In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 611 students with 62 teachers and 41 non-teaching staff. It includes a special education program.
St Augustine's School is a Catholic primary school for boys and girls at Grogan Street. In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 217 students with 16 teachers and 13 non-teaching staff.
The Tropical North Steiner School has been approved to open in 2020; it will offer Prep to Year 3 initially.

Community facilities

operates Mossman Library at 14 Mill Street, Mossman.
The Mossman branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association meets at 28 Front Street.

Governance

Prior to 2008, Mossman was the seat of the Shire of Douglas. In 2008, the Shire of Douglas was amalgamated into the Cairns Region, which was administered from both Cairns and Mossman. In 2014, the Shire of Douglas was de-amalgamated from Cairns Region and reinstated as Shire of Douglas.

Sport

Mossman is rich in sporting clubs such as the Mossman Sharks rugby league club, Coral Coast Judo Club, Douglas United Dragons Football Club, A Basketball League runs out of the high school Indoor Sport Centre. There is also the Port Douglas Crocs AFL club, Mossman Gymnastics, Port Douglas and Mossman Rugby Union club, and Lady Dragons Indigenous Rugby League Football Club.

Heritage listings

Mossman has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: