View from Castle Hill, 286 metres above the city

Townsville (including Thuringowa)
Elegant and substantial coastal city.
Of all the Australian states Queensland is unique in its ability to establish regional centres which have a genuine autonomy from the state capital. In the other states all transportation, economic life and centralised administration emanates from the state capital. In Queensland this is not the case. It is a feature of Queensland which was neatly captured by Australian author Thea Astley when she observed: 'When I was a teacher in Townsville...I always remarked...the manner in which the locals referred to southerners - and they didn't mean the people of New South Wales or Victoria - or even Tasmania; they meant Brisbane.'

Thus Townsville can genuinely be seen as 'The Tropical Capital of North Queensland'. Certainly, as it is proud to announce, it is the largest city in tropical Australia - but then it only has Cairns, Rockhampton, Darwin and Broome to compete with.

Townsville was first visited by Europeans when Captain Cook reached and named Cleveland Bay (upon which the city is built) in 1770.

After the settlement at Sydney Cove was established in 1788 a number of maritime explorers stopped at Cleveland Bay. Phillip Parker King anchored in the bay for three days during his voyage to the Northern Territory in 1819 and Captain John Wickham, in the Beagle, chartered the coastline in 1839. Neither of these explorers engendered any interest in settling the area. It wasn't until 1861 that Robert Towns (1794-1873) asked John Melton Black to select a suitable site for a port on the north Queensland coast. By this time Towns had considerable holdings in north Queensland and was eager to create a port which would serve the whole of region.

Little did Towns realise that the site chosen by Black on Cleveland Bay would, over the next century, serve the mining interests of Charters Towers, Mary Kathleen and Mount Isa as well as the pastoral interests of graziers across the Gulf country.

View down Ross Creek to the port

A site was chosen on the shores of Cleveland Bay and within the next year a settlement had been established with a boiling down meatworks, a wharf and a woolstore. At first it was known as Castletown but in 1865 it was officially declared a port and renamed after its founder. At this time ships were mooring between Townsville and Magnetic Island and goods were being brought onshore by lighters.

No sooner had the port been established than gold was discovered at Ravenswood. This led to the establishment of a breakwater in 1872 (it was that year that Burns Philp established an office in the town) and the dredging of the harbour in 1884.

The area around the port boomed with the growing of sugar, the discovery of gold, the establishment of the meatworks and the growth of pastoral industries in the hinterland.

A railway from the port moved out into the hinterland reaching Charters Towers in 1882 then Ravenswood (1884), Hughenden (1887), Winton (1900), Cloncurry (1908) and Mount Isa in the 1920s.

The band rotunda in Anzac Memorial Park

Located 1371 km from Brisbane, Townsville today is a city of great charm and style. Its one great redeeming quality is that it has not been overwhelmed by tourism. There is no feeling that the place is tourist driven. There is no sense of every shop being devoted to extracting the tourist dollar. Even Reef HQ, one of the city's premier attractions, is relatively low key. It makes little of the fact that it is the only living coral reef in captivity - a fact which means that visitors can actually see the Great Barrier Reef while safely on land. There are no smelly fast foods, no signs of decay.

The result is that the elegance of Townsville has been maintained and that its gracious buildings and old pubs give it a sense of sophistication so often lacking in tourist centres.

Things to see:  

Townsville's Public Buildings
But the private buildings are nothing to the public buildings which, in the area of Flinders Street and The Strand, create streetscapes of great elegance and beauty.

The Perc Tucker Gallery (well worth a visit as it has a combination of visiting exhibitions and its own permanent exhibition of modern paintings) on the corner of Flinders and Denham Streets was designed by F. D. G. Stanley and built for the Union Bank in 1885. It belongs to an architectural style known as the Early Victorian Classical Revival noted for its heaviness and large scale arches. Contact: (07) 4772 2560

Over the road the Townsville Post Office, built in 1886, has a large clock tower and is notable for its heavy ground floor colonnades and its lighter upper storey.

North Queensland Insurance Building, corner Flinders & Wickham St

Australian Bank of Commerce & Burns Philp
With little respect for their honourable antecedents the old Australian Bank of Commerce in Flinders Street has been turned into The Bank Niteclub (it is interesting to think whether the current patrons notice the grand cedar door or the superb clerestory roof) and the old Burn Philp Offices in Flinders Street is now the East Street Disco. It is ironic that a building constructed in 1895 as a symbol of success for one of Australia's great shipping companies is now a dance hall - albeit an elegant one.

Townsville's Historic Hotels
Tattersalls Hotel
Most notable is Tattersalls Hotel at the end of Flinders Street (on the corner of Wickham Street) which is a wonderful example of an typical Australian hotel of its period. Built in 1865 it has wide verandahs and an attractive iron balustrade. It is now known as Molly Malones.

Tattersalls Hotel

Queens Hotel
Equally interesting is the old Queens Hotel on The Strand (now owned by North Queensland Television) which was built over the period from 1900-1920. There is something of the British raj about this building with its Moghul cupolas and its long verandahs at street level. It would not be out of place in India or Singapore. In its day it was the place where the graziers, coming to the coast for business or pleasure, would stay. The grandeur of the building is still evident.

The National
If you are interested in visiting hotels which, while not National Trust, are still of historic interest Townsville has a number of interesting examples. There is The National, built in 1903 with typical wide verandahs, on the corner of Boundary Street and Railway Avenue.

The Exchange
The Exchange in Flinders Street was first built on its present site in 1869, burnt down in 1881, and rebuilt the following year. It is now Townsville's oldest pub.

The Great Northern
The Great Northern which was built by timber merchants in 1901 - the expertise of its first owners is still apparent in its outstanding woodworking and choice of timbers - is located at 496 Flinder Street.

Private Houses listed by the National Trust
Townsville has an excess of National Trust buildings and consequently it is a feast for those interested in impressive late nineteenth century public architecture and classic north Queensland style domestic and private architecture.

Rosebank
Of the 'private' dwellings particularly impressive are 'Rosebank', now a private home and not open for inspection, at the end of Lawson Street in the suburb of Mysterton. Built in 1885 by the explorer Andrew Ball it is a classic Queensland timber house with wide verandahs and elaborate balustrades. It is set in beautiful tropical gardens.

Bishops Lodge
Another fine example is the 'Bishop's Lodge' on Bundock Street in the fashionable suburb of Castle Hill. It is perched on the top of an outcrop and has magnificent views across to Magnetic Island. It is, not surprisingly, almost surrounded by verandahs so that the extraordinary views can be caught from every vantage point.

North Queensland Military Museum
Townsville also has a number of interesting museums. The North Queensland Military Museum at Jezzine Barracks (on Kissing Point at the northern end of the Strand) was originally the location of Townsville's front line of defence. In 1880 barracks and two 64 pound muzzle loading guns were established on the point. Over the years the area decayed and it wasn't until 1980 that it was reopened as a Museum. It now houses a fine collection of military memorabilia with a special emphasis on northern Queensland. The museum is open from 9.00 to 3.00. Contact: (07) 4722 3111.

National Trust Buildings
Another kind of museum are the three historic houses reconstructed by the National Trust at 5 Castling Street, West End (turn west into Ingham Street when heading north towards the city and then left after the church). The houses, all of which once stood in various parts of Townsville, have been brought together to show the styles of housing which were common in Townsville in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. There's a worker's cottage built in 1884, a farm house built about 1921, and 'Currajong', a superb villa residence built for a local banker in 1888. All three buildings have been fully restored and furnished. Unfortunately they are only open for inspection on Wednesdays 10.00 - 2.00 and weekends 1.00 - 4.00.

Other Museums
The city also has the Townsville Museum at 81-99 Sturt Street (Contact: (07) 4772 5725), the Maritime Museum at 46-48 Palmer Street (Contact: (07) 4721 5251) and the RAAF Museum. The latter is only open on the first Sunday of each month while the other are open from 10.00-3.00.

Lookouts
There are also a number of marvellous vantage points from which the visitor can see Townsville and Magnetic Island. Of these the most popular and accessible is Castle Hill a prominent pink granite monolith which towers some 286 metres above the city. The view at night is dramatic.

For those looking for something more dramatic the climb to the top of Mount Stuart is rewarding. The road to the summit is located 2 km south of Townsville and the view, from 585 metres up, is spectacular.

Equally the city has a number of parks the most interesting of which is the Townsville Common Environmental Park located off Cape Pallarenda Road 5 km north of the city centre. This untouched area of mudflats, grasslands, swamps and forests has a serenity and peacefulness. The park abounds with birdlife.

Townsville's Botanical Gardens
The city has two botanical gardens. The old Queens Gardens, a 4 ha park with extensive stands of tropical trees and flowers, is located 2 km from the city centre with the main entrance being from Paxton Street.

6 km from the city centre in the suburb of Mundingburra is the new Anderson Park Botanical Gardens covering 32 ha including a lagoon, conservatory and a number of picnic places.

Thuringowa
The new 'city' of Thuringowa (really no more than suburbs of Townsville) is a monument to the Queensland gerrymander system. A figment of Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen's determination to maximise the National Party vote it was created in 1986 and exists in a separate electorate to Townsville - hopefully one that will be more sympathetic to National Party goals. Even the local tourist literature admits the deception noting: 'An imaginary boundary divides the residential areas of Townsville from those of Thuringowa City'. In the late 1980s it could boast the highest residential growth in Australia.

A Guide to Townsville
Visitors to Townsville should obtain a copy of This Month In Townsville from hotels, motels, caravan parks,newsagents and Tourist Information Offices. A free publication it provides detailed information on the month's activities in Townsville.

Restaurants in Townsville
It is impractical to list all the eating places in Townsville. The best way to access the up-to-date places in town is to check the listings in the This Month in Townsville which is available from the Tourist Information Office and a number of tourist locations in Townsville. It has a comprehensive listing of the city's restaurants under the style of cuisine.

	Tourist Information
	Flinders Mall Information Centre Flinders Mall Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4721 3660
	Highway Information Centre (Southern Approach to Townsville) Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4778 3555
	Queensland National Parks & Wildlife Service Information Office Great Barrier Reef Wonderland Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4721 2399
	Townsville Enterprise Ltd Enterprise House 6 The Strand Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4771 3061 Facsimile: (07) 4771 4361
	Motels
	A1 Motel Rosslea 107 Bowen Rd Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4779 3999 Rating: **
	Beach House 66 The Strand Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4771 6891 Rating: **
	Billabong Lodge 94 Bowen Rd Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4775 2055 Rating: **
	Casino City Motor Inn 100 Bowen Rd Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4775 4444 Rating: ***
	Cluden Park Motor Inn Bruce Hwy Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4778 4555 Rating: ***
	Colonial Gardens Resort Woolcock St Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4725 2222 Rating: ****
	Coolabah Motel 75 Bowen Rd Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4779 2084 Rating: ***
	Downtown Motel 121 Flinders St Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4772 5022 Rating: **
	Midtown Hotel/Motel 718 Sturt St Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4771 5121 Rating: **
	Motel Palms 44 Bowen Rd Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4779 6166 Rating: **
	Motel Townsville 36­40 Bowen Rd Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4779 2179 Rating: **
	Raintree Motel Bowen St Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4775 3066 Rating: ***
	Rex City Motel 143 Wills St Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4771 6048 Rating: **
	Robert Towns Hospitality Inn 261 Stanley St Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4771 6908 Rating: ***
	Shoredrive Motel 117 The Strand Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4771 6851 Rating: **
	South Bank Motor Inn 23 Palmer St Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4721 1474 Rating: ***
	Strand Motel 51 The Strand Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4772 1977 Rating: **
	Summit Motel 6 Victoria St Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4721 2122 Rating: ***
	Town Lodge Motor Inn 15 Victoria St Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4771 2164 Rating: ***
	Townsville Ambassador 75 The Strand Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4772 4255 Rating: ***
	Townsville Reef International 63 The Strand Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4721 1777 Rating: ****
	Yongala Lodge 11 Fryer St Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4772 4633 Facsimile: (07) 4721 1074 Rating: ***
	Hotels
	Hotel Allen Cnr Gregory & Eyre Sts Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4771 5656
	Jupiters Townsville Hotel & Casino Sir Leslie Thiess Dve Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4722 2333 Facsimile: (07) 4772 4741 Rating: *****
	Seagulls Resort 74 The Esplanade Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4721 3111, 1800 079 929 Facsimile: (07) 4721 3133 Rating: ***1/2
	Seaview Hotel 56 The Strand Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4771 5005
	Townsville International Hotel Flinders Mall Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4772 2477 Rating: ****
	Townsville Plaza Hotel Flinders Mall Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4772 1888 Facsimile: (07) 4772 1299 Rating: ****1/2
	Resorts
	Seagulls Resort 74 The Esplanade Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4721 3111, 1800 079 929 Facsimile: (07) 4721 3133 Rating: ***1/2
	Cottages & Cabins
	Hidden Valley Cabins CMB 46 Hidden Valley 4816 Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4770 8088 or 1800 466 506
	Caravan Parks
	Coonambelah Caravan Park 547 Ingham Rd Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4774 5205 Rating: **
	Showgrounds Caravan Park Ingham Rd Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4772 1487 Rating: **
	Walkabout Caravan Park University Rd Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4778 2470 Rating: *
	Rowes Bay Caravan Park Heatley Pde Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4771 3576 Rating: ***
	Sun City Caravan Park 119 Bowen Rd Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4775 7733 Rating: ***
	The Lakes Caravan Park Woolcock St Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4725 1577 Rating: ***
	Restaurants
	A Touch of Salt Ogden St Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4724 4441
	Aqua Sir Leslie Thiess Dve Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4722 2261
	Banjo Paterson Steakhouse 77 Bowen Rd Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4725 2333
	BarZu 3/21 Plume St South Townsville Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4724 3396
	Benny's Hot Wok Cafe & Bar 17 Palmer St South Townsville Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4724 3243
	Bistro One 30-34 Palmer St South Townsville Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4771 6333
	Brothers Leagues Club Herveys Range Rd Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4773 6699
	Celsius Restaurant, Mercure Woolcock St Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4725 2222
	Essence Sir Leslie Thiess Dve Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4722 2261
	Heritage Bar 137 Flinders St Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4771 2799
	Leisure Inn Plaza Hotel Cnr Flinders Mall & Stanley St Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: 1800 060 954
	MoMo's 1 Palmer St Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4721 4900
	Osmans 241 Flinders St Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4721 4772
	Seagulls Restaurant 74 The Esplanade Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4721 3111
	Southbank Grill 17-29 Palmer St Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4726 5207
	Table 51 51 Palmer St Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4721 0642
	Watermark Townsville 72-74 The Strand Noth Ward Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4724 4281
	Cafés
	C'est Si Bon Gournet Foods 48 Gregory St North Ward Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4772 5828
	Cafe Nova 2 Blackwood St Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4772 7388
	Cafe Spuntino Commonwealth Ctr. Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4774 3663
	Clint Bradley's Deli Cafe Grocer Sturt St North Ward Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4724 4417
	Clint Bradley's Deli Cafe & grocer Sturt St Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4724 4417
	Coffee Bene Cnr Sturt & Stokes StsSt Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4781 1122
	Colours Coffee Bar Shop 2C, Cat & Fiddle Centre Flinders Mall Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4772 5212
	Deli On Palmer U2/30 Palmer St Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4774 52 98
	Going Ape Um Cha Bar & Cafe 215-219 Flinders St Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4772 2243
	Heritage Bar 137 Flinders St Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4771 2799
	Hoges on the Mall Flinders Mall Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4772 6422
	Michels 7 Palmer St Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4724 1460
	Odyssey On The Strand 120 The Strand Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4724 1400
	Royce Roll'z 345 Flinders St Dimmeys Plaza Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4772 5135
	Squires Coffee Shop 14/39 Eyre St North Ward Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4772 3089
	Twisted Melon Shop 5/41 Denham St Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4772 5200