Cremorne, Queensland

Cremorne Mackay, Queensland
Cremorne Hotel surrounded by Barnes' coconut palms, early 1900s
Cremorne
Coordinates	21°08′10″S 149°11′35″E / 21.1361°S 149.1930°E / -21.1361; 149.1930Coordinates: 21°08′10″S 149°11′35″E / 21.1361°S 149.1930°E / -21.1361; 149.1930
Population	33 (2016 census)[1]
• Density	10.00/km2 (25.9/sq mi)
Postcode(s)	4740
Area	3.3 km2 (1.3 sq mi)
LGA(s)	Mackay Region
State electorate(s)	Mackay
Federal division(s)	Dawson
Suburbs around Cremorne: North Mackay North Mackay North Mackay Mackay Cremorne Mackay Harbour Mackay Mackay Mackay Harbour

Cremorne is a locality in the Mackay Region, Queensland, Australia.^[2] In the 2016 census, Cremorne had a population of 33 people.^[1]

Geography[]

Looking from Mackay across the Pioneer River towards the Cremorne Hotel, circa 1907

Cremorne is on the northern bank of the Pioneer River in the centre of Mackay. The Forgan Smith Bridge crosses from central Mackay over the Pioneer River and through Cremorne to North Mackay. The Pioneer River forms the southern boundary of the locality and Barnes Creek forms the northern boundary. Most of the western part of the locality is parkland (largely undeveloped); there is a small number of industrial buildings around the Forgan Smith Bridge.^[3]

History[]

Remains of the Cremorne Hotel North Mackay following the 1918 cyclone

Arriving in 1863, John Greenwood Barnes was the first settler on the northern band of the Pioneer River. He experimented with growing edible tropical plants such as breadfruit, mango, guava, pineapples etc. on behalf of botanist Ferdinand von Mueller, the curator of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens. However his greatest success was with coconut palms which he first planted in 1868 and then expanded to a plantation of 1200 trees.^[4][5]

In 1884, Barnes erected a two-storey hotel with a promenade roof. Working with his father-in-law William Seaward, he developed pleasure gardens called Cremorne Gardens thought to be modelled on the Cremorne Gardens in Melbourne (Barnes had lived in Victoria before moving to Queensland).^[4] In January 1898 the hotel was damaged by Cyclone Eline and then demolished by the January 1918 cyclone.^[6]

References[]

External links[]

Media related to Cremorne, Queensland at Wikimedia Commons