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The
small town, founded in June 1877, was first known as Terrigal, Island
Point, Port Owen and Salisbury, before settling comfortably onto the map
as Port Douglas in honour of former Queensland premier, John Douglas. Port
Douglas plodded along for the next couple of years, until that magic
catchcry echoed from its coastal shores across the country -
"Gold!" The town
filled and burst at the seams with fortune-hunters during the gold
rush, with the hinterland also offering up a treasure trove of other
natural products including tin, silver, sugarcane and great cedar trees
for timber. The
population boomed to 12,000, and the number of licensed hotels grew to
a staggering 27. However, every boom must bust, and soon the gold ran dry,
the population dwindled and many of the pubs poured their last beers and
toasted the death of a town. The
completion of the Cairns-Mareeba railway in 1893 saw Port Douglas slip
closer to obscurity, as it declined to a small fishing village, although
crushed sugar continued to be shipped from the Mossman Central Mill out of
Port Douglas until 1958.
Two
decades later however, the fortunes of Port Douglas had taken a
massive swing upwards with the property boom of the mid-1980s. Australian
entrepreneur, Christopher Skase, also had his hand in the promising local
pie with his investment in the Sheraton Mirage complex. These
days, Port Douglas glistens with the jewels of its scenic wonders, and
with the richness of experience it can offer its visitors and locals. |
While
Port Douglas prospers today from its wealth of scenic and man-made
attractions, it once glowed with the glory of gold. 
The
bad luck continued until 1911, when a severe cyclone devastated much
of the town, shifting the majority of service industries north to Mossman.
The town was rebuilt soon afterwards, but much of the population had
already shifted to Mossman and surrounding areas, and by the early 1960s,
Port Douglas was home to a small handful of about 100 people. 