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Cooktown Tourist Information: FREECALL 1800 174 895
The Palmer Gold Rush
The discovery of gold on the Palmer River by
William Hann on the 14th August 1872, and the
subsequent report by miner explorer James
Mulligan on the 3rd September 1873 of the
discovery of 102 ounce payable gold, led to
the start of the
Palmer River Gold Rush
.
The establishment of a port to achieve
the movement of supplies was a priority.
The
Endeavour River
was chosen and
the SS Leichhardt landed the government
survey team, a party of police, the new Gold
Commissioner and 60 miners on its muddy
shore on
25th October 1873
.
Most of this group set off almost immediately
to blaze a road to the goldfield, whilst behind
them, on the banks of the Endeavour, the first
tents and pre-fabricated buildings began
to appear.
By February 1874
Cook’s Town was booming
with hundreds of wood and iron buildings on
both sides of a two mile length of Charlotte
Street.
Stores
,
licensed pubs
and
banks
could
be found alongside
brothels
,
shanties
and
gambling dens
, which included the legendary
Palmer Kate’s establishment.
history and culture
Historic Cooktown