Mount Garnet
Encyclopedia
Mount Garnet is a small town located in north-eastern Queensland
, Australia
. It is located at the south-western edge of the Atherton Tableland
and is on the Kennedy Highway
. Mount Garnet is about a three hour drive from Cairns
. At the 2006 census
, Mount Garnet had a population of 458.
. Various small communities populate the area around Mount Garnet. These include Tableland Tin, Innot Hot Springs, Silver Valley and Battle Creek.
Mount Garnet is situated on the traditional lands of the Mbarbaram peoples. Mount Garnet was built as a mining community in the 19th century and several mineral
s can be found in the area, including tin
, copper, zinc and garnet
. The Mountain itself, situated a few hundred metres from the state school, was a main vein of tin and garnet in the late 19th century. Open mine shafts still litter the mountain only covered with sheets of tin. A beautiful landscape neglected by proper care, a definite tourist attraction for the common hiker.
In the 1930s several cattle stations were established within the community as well as farms that grew many crops, including tobacco
, potato
es, corn
, peanut
s and maize
. Various mining operations, as well as lime
production, are in operation today just outside the town.
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. It is located at the south-western edge of the Atherton Tableland
Atherton Tableland
The Atherton Tableland is a fertile plateau which is part of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland, Australia. It is located west to south-south-west inland from Cairns, well into the tropics, but its elevated position provides a climate suitable for dairy farming. It has an area of around...
and is on the Kennedy Highway
Kennedy Highway
The Kennedy Highway is a highway in northern Queensland, Australia. It runs for approximately 250 km from Smithfield, on the northern outskirts of Cairns, to the Gulf Development Road in the vicinity of Forty Mile Scrub and Undara Volcanic national parks, about 40 kilometres south of Mount...
. Mount Garnet is about a three hour drive from Cairns
Cairns, Queensland
Cairns is a regional city in Far North Queensland, Australia, founded 1876. The city was named after William Wellington Cairns, then-current Governor of Queensland. It was formed to serve miners heading for the Hodgkinson River goldfield, but experienced a decline when an easier route was...
. At the 2006 census
Census in Australia
The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...
, Mount Garnet had a population of 458.
Overview
Mount Garnet's current population is around 400 people with 35% being AboriginalIndigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
. Various small communities populate the area around Mount Garnet. These include Tableland Tin, Innot Hot Springs, Silver Valley and Battle Creek.
Mount Garnet is situated on the traditional lands of the Mbarbaram peoples. Mount Garnet was built as a mining community in the 19th century and several mineral
Mineral
A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...
s can be found in the area, including tin
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
, copper, zinc and garnet
Garnet
The garnet group includes a group of minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. The name "garnet" may come from either the Middle English word gernet meaning 'dark red', or the Latin granatus , possibly a reference to the Punica granatum , a plant with red seeds...
. The Mountain itself, situated a few hundred metres from the state school, was a main vein of tin and garnet in the late 19th century. Open mine shafts still litter the mountain only covered with sheets of tin. A beautiful landscape neglected by proper care, a definite tourist attraction for the common hiker.
Transport
A railway was authorised to be built from Lappa, on the then Chillagoe Railway and Mines Company's line, to Mount Garnet by the Mount Garnet Freehold Mining Company in 1897. It suffered a rather shakey construction period and it was not until 11 January 1904 that the line was ready as far as a flood-damaged Return Creek bridge, across that creek from the town. It took another 11 years before trains could officially negotiate the bridge to the Mount Garnet station. The line was taken over by the Government from 23 December 1914. It closed on 1 July 1961.In the 1930s several cattle stations were established within the community as well as farms that grew many crops, including tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
, potato
Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
es, corn
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
, peanut
Peanut
The peanut, or groundnut , is a species in the legume or "bean" family , so it is not a nut. The peanut was probably first cultivated in the valleys of Peru. It is an annual herbaceous plant growing tall...
s and maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
. Various mining operations, as well as lime
Lime (mineral)
Lime is a general term for calcium-containing inorganic materials, in which carbonates, oxides and hydroxides predominate. Strictly speaking, lime is calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide. It is also the name for a single mineral of the CaO composition, occurring very rarely...
production, are in operation today just outside the town.