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Pioneers of Maytown & Palmer River GoldfieldsPrint Page Print this page

1983 : Monument unveiling
1983 : Monument unveiling

Photographs supplied by Jeff Smith

The monument commemorates the pioneers of Maytown and the Palmer River Goldfields.

Once the busy administrative and commercial centre for the lucrative Palmer River goldfield,in 1886 the population of Maytown reached 154 Europeans and 450 Chinese. There was no Christian church, but there was a Chinese temple. By the turn of the century the town had a branch of the Government Savings Bank, a state school, courthouse, school of arts, hospital, police barracks, one hotel, eight stores – four of which were Chinese, a baker, saddler and Miners Institute.

The population was 252 Europeans and 422 Chinese. But, by 1924 only Wah Chong & Company’s store remained open. Buildings like the school that closed in 1925 remained, abandoned, until World War Two in the hope of a mining revival. Mining has continued on the field but has always been too small-scale to revive the township. The decline in gold mining activity on the Palmer River is essentially what saw its demise.

Location

State:QLD
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -16.051171
Long: 144.289164
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Monument
Monument Theme:Landscape
Sub-Theme:Settlement
Approx. Event Start Date:1873
Approx. Event End Date:1945

Dedication

Approx. Monument Dedication Date:1983
Front Inscription

This monument and time capsule has been erected in memory of the pioneers and their families who founded and  established this historic Maytown and the Palmer River Goldfields

1873 - 1945.

Erected by the Palmer River Historical Preservation Society 1983.

Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au