The main street of Herberton with the Royal Hotel in the foreground

Herberton
Pleasant town in the Atherton Tablelands, now also called the Cairns Highlands.
Herberton is a pretty little town set in the rolling hills of the Atherton Tablelands. It seems to stretch out along the hills and meander across the ridges. Located 122 km from Cairns and 915 metres above sea level it is now a quiet town with a population of about 1500. There are only hints that it was once the most important mining town on the Tablelands.

Like so many of the towns on the Tablelands Herberton really had a single raison d'etre - it was a tin town with both a mine and a smelter nearby.

Herberton came to importance when, on 19 April 1880, a party of prospectors led by Willie Jack and John Newell discovered tin in the area. They named the settlement Herberton because it was at the headwaters of the Herbert River.

In 1882 the two men established a store in Herberton (Jack sold his interest in the mine to John Moffat - see Irvinebank) under the banner of 'General Merchants and Forwarding and Shipping Agents' and over the next decade they became the most successful merchants in the area. Eventually there were Jack and Newell stores in Mareeba, Irvinebank, Watsonville, Mount Garnet, Cairns, Port Douglas and a number of other smaller towns.

It is important to remember that the discovery of tin at Herberton was largely responsible for the development of the other towns on the Atherton Tablelands. The constant search for good access routes to the sea meant that a number of roads (all of which focussed on Herberton) were hacked out of the rainforest and towns like Yungaburra and Millaa Millaa came into existence. Towns like Mareeba and Atherton were originally stopover places for the Cobb & Co coaches which plied the route from Port Douglas to Herberton.

By the early 1900s the town was booming. There was a population of 8000, two newspapers, 17 pubs and a brewery. Little is left to recall this boom time. The Jack and Newell General Store opposite the council offices was built in 1882 and was constructed from pit sawn cedar. Some of the original joinery can still be seen in the building. It is now a bakery shop.

Entering the town from Atherton the prominent landmark of the old Great Northern Mining Concentrator is a reminder of the town's earlier importance. It now stands idle - a relic of the boom times.

Recently Herberton has become something of a commuter town with most of the people in the town working elsewhere and living in this pleasant 'village in the hills'. There are a number of miners who, having once worked in the Herberton mines, now work at Kidston gold mine.

Things to see:  

Herberton Historical Village and Museum
The town's most important and interesting tourist attraction is the Herberton Historical Village and Museum - a remarkable collection of over 20 buildings all of which have been relocated to a site north of the present township. For example the Bishop Feetham's Cottage, a National Trust listed building, has found its way from the main street of Herberton out to the Historical Village. The ANZ Bank now stands where the Bishop's unusual one room timber cottage once stood and the old cottage, with its exposed stud frame and corrugated iron gable roof, is now located next to the entrance at the Historical Village.

Herberton Historical Village claims to be the largest collection of Australiana in Queensland with 28 buildings and 20 fully displayed. Its range of buildings include an old school, a coach and livery stable, a miner's hut, a slab hut dating from 1870, a bank, a presbytery, a telephone exchange, a pub (which is a composite of a number of buildings) and many more. Many visitors will find that the entry fee is excessively high and there is a strict 'no cameras' and 'no animals' regulations. Contact: (07) 4096 2271.

Photo Gallery
An interesting addition to the town's attractions is the Black and White photographic gallery at 49b Grace Street which specialises in handpainted black and white photographs.

The Crater National Park
A few kilometres out of town is one of the most interesting of all the volcanic formations on the Tablelands. A short walk of 400 metres in The Crater National Park (sometimes referred to as the Mount Hypipamee National Park) leads to a crater formed by a single violent explosion.

The crater formed by a single violent explosion, Crater National Park.

The crater is an estimated 95 000 years old. The sheer sides drop 56 metres into a pool covered by green lichens and the pool is 82.3 metres deep. The depth of the drop, the green waters far below and the tropical vegetation clinging to the crater walls give the area an eery, unnatural feel.

	Hotels
	Australian Hotel/Motel 44 Grace St Herberton QLD 4872 Telephone: (07) 4096 2263
	Royal Hotel Grace St Herberton QLD 4872 Telephone: (07) 4096 2231
	Resorts
	Greensprings Holiday Farm Apartments Wieland Rd Wondecla via Herberton QLD 4872 Telephone: (07) 4096 2292 Facsimile: (07) 4096 2292 Rating: ***
	Bed & Breakfast/Guesthouses
	Herberton Heritage Cottage B & B 2 Perkins St Herberton QLD 4872 Telephone: (07) 4096 2032 Facsimile: (07) 4096 2684 Rating: ****1/2
	Caravan Parks
	Wild River Caravan Park 23 Holdcroft Rd Herberton QLD 4872 Telephone: (07) 4096 2121