Part 1 - Pages

That beacon of green that overlooks the northern suburbs of Cairns is known as Mount Whitfield. Explorer George Dalrymple named the peak in 1873 after his friend Edwin Whitfield. It is the highest point of the Whitfield Range at 364m. This area is part of the traditional homelands of the Yirrganydji and sites of spiritual significance are documented. In 1989, much of the Mount Whitfield range complex was designated as a nature reserve covering 329 hectares. It was predated by a scenic reserve noted in the early days for its valuable timbers. Today, the four linked Arrow walking trails which meander through its forested slopes are a mecca for walkers seeking nature or fitness. Mount Whitfield did not always appear as the alluring leafy backdrop of the present. Since the establishment of Cairns in 1876, the area has undergone substantial disturbance and landscape alteration. The massif has borne witness to this development and urbanisation of Cairns through changes in its appearance, habitats and biota.

Pioneering axemen

In the 1870s, timber-getters were among the first Europeans to exploit the rainforests in the Cairns area. Timber exports boosted the local economy and merchantable species like red cedar were likely logged on Mt Whitfield. The prized trees were quickly depleted on the coast and the loggers moved inland, minimising their impact on the coastal forests.

Food bowl

The network of seasonal watercourses running down from Mount Whitfield has over time deposited arable soil onto the lower slopes and lowlands. In the late 1800s, Chinese settlers cleared land at the base of Mount Whitfield near the Tanks to establish market gardens to feed the developing township of Cairns. The fish pole bamboo on the Red Arrow track originates from these market garden days when this Chinese native species was introduced for food and garden stakes. Further clearing for fruit farming continued in the early decades of the 1900s. There was a certain economic imperative for new landholders to cultivate the acquired land in support of the Far North’s development. Parcels of crops such as bananas, pineapples and citrus dotted the footslopes. Despite the receding tree line, contributors to the Cairns Post of the epoch remarked on the attractiveness of the lower hillslopes with their patchwork of fruit orchards. When fruit production declined, the abandoned land became grassland, sugarcane fields and dairy farms. Onwards from the 1950s, the demand for residential land saw cane replaced by houses, with residences creeping up the hillsides.

Urban development

Once known as Edgecliff, Edge Hill was one of the earliest suburbs established outside the Cairns CBD. The original residents built on the lower edges at the southern end of Mount Whitfield, away from the lowlying swampy ground. Prestigious homes with stunning views were built by notable local families such as the Collins and the MacDonnells. With the arrival of power, water and a school at Edge Hill, residential development expanded and colonised the lower slopes. The suburb of Whitfield grew up next to Edge Hill with further hillside housing, although its northern reaches remain undeveloped as part of the Mount Whitfield Conservation Park. Presently, further hillslope developments are subject to strict town planning. Ironically, the attention of many Cairns visitors is first drawn to Mount Whitfield by the red blaze of summer flowers on Poincianas trees which were exotic ornamental plantings in the earliest residential gardens on the hills.

Taking hills for quarrying

As Cairns has grown, large tracts of swampy land needed to be filled in. Mount Whitfield was seen as a conveniently located source of suitable quality materials. Hillslopes at the southern end of the range were quarried both on the Aeroglen and Edge Hill sides. Initially, the hills near Collins Avenue were cut away to provide rock for in-filling and road formation in the nascent city. In the late 1930s, major reclamation work commenced in North Cairns and land above the Tanks was resumed for quarrying purposes. Later, the lower slopes behind the Gardens supplied spoil for upgrading the aerodrome for military operations. Such was the traffic of trucks carting rock along Collins Avenue during the war that the road was widened! While quarrying is no longer practised, these extractive activities changed the shape and scarred the hillsides of Mount Whitfield. Once leafy vistas were transformed into rather bleak backdrops, much at odds with Edge Hill’s early reputation as the leafy suburb.

Right: Chinese gardens on lower slopes of Mount Whitfi eld in the early 20th century. Courtesy of Cairns Historical Society Below: Looking down from Mount Whitfi eld in 1934, fruit orchards on hillslopes give way to sugarcane. Photo: www. queenslandplaces. com.au © Centre for the Government of Queensland 2018

Looking up to Mount Whitfi eld in the 1930s, dairy farm followed by ‘Citrus Hill’ with forest in the background. Photo: Beryl Stanton

Mount Whitfi eld viewed from Edge Hill in 1968. Photo: www.queenslandplaces.com.au © Centre for the Government of Queensland 2018