Smithfield, Queensland


Smithfield is a suburb of Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. At the the suburb recorded a population of 5,303.

Geography

Smithfield is about to the north of Cairns City, Queensland, Australia. The Captain Cook Highway passes through Smithfield and the Kuranda Range Road branches from the Captain Cook Highway at Smithfield.
In the suburb's south is the lower station of the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway.

History

Irukandji is a language of Far North Queensland, particularly the area around the Kuranda Range and Lower Barron River. The Irukandji language region includes the landscape within Cairns Regional Council.
Smithfield was first established in 1876, and was a rival for dominance of the area to Cairns at that time. It was named in honour of prospector and explorer, William "Bill" Smith, who had a camp at this place. On Boxing Day 1877, Bill Smith added further notoriety to the town named after him by murdering a man and then shooting himself in the main street. After a devastating flooding of the Barron River on which the settlement was situated during a cyclone, the original site was abandoned.
It is now a suburb of Cairns, and is the business and trade centre of the Cairns 'Northern Beaches'.
Smithfield State School closed in 1964.
Smithfield State High School opened on 24 January 1983.
Smithfield library opened in 1998 and underwent a major refurbishment in 2008.
At the the suburb recorded a population of 3,707.

Amenities

operates a library at 70 Cheviot Street.
The Smithfield branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association meets at the CWA Hall on Kamerunga Road, Caravonica. It is between the Caravonica State School and the Australian Armour and Artillery Museum.