Ingham, Queensland
| Ingham Queensland | |||||||
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 Clock at Rotary park | |||||||
  Ingham | |||||||
| Coordinates | 18°39′0″S 146°10′0″E / 18.65000°S 146.16667°ECoordinates: 18°39′0″S 146°10′0″E / 18.65000°S 146.16667°E | ||||||
| Population | 4,706 (2011 census)[1] | ||||||
| Established | 1864 | ||||||
| Postcode(s) | 4850 | ||||||
| Elevation | 11.8 m (39 ft) | ||||||
| Location |
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| LGA(s) | Shire of Hinchinbrook | ||||||
| State electorate(s) | Hinchinbrook | ||||||
| Federal Division(s) | Kennedy | ||||||
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Ingham is a town and locality in the Shire of Hinchinbrook, North Queensland, Australia. The town was founded in 1864, gazetted a shire in 1879, and is the service centre for many sugarcane plantations, pioneered in the 1870s by William Ingham, for whom the town is named. It is the administrative centre for the Shire of Hinchinbrook. At the 2011 Australian Census the town recorded a population of 4,706.[1]
Geography
Ingham is approximately 110 kilometres (68 mi) north of Townsville and 1,437 kilometres (893 mi) north of the state capital, Brisbane. The town is positioned about 17 km inland within the Herbert River floodplain where Palm Creek drains the low-lying lands. It is surrounded by sugar cane farms which are serviced by a number of private railways. The North Coast railway line passes through the town.
History
Prior to European settlement, the Ingham area was inhabited by the Warakamai People.[2]
Lower Herbert Post Office opened on 1 January 1871 and was renamed Ingham in 1882.[3]
Industry
Ingham is known mainly for sugar cane farming. Victoria Sugar Mill, the largest sugar mill in Australia and one of the largest in the southern hemisphere,[4] owned by Wilmar Sugar Australia Limited, is located close to the town. Much of the cane is transported to the mills by light tramlines.[5]
Other industries in the Ingham area include cattle, farming, fishing, timber and tourism.
Attractions
The town is home to the regional art gallery called TYTO Regional Art Gallery. In the same precinct is the Hinchinbrook Shire Library. Wallaman Falls are about 40 km to the west of the town. Hinchinbrook Island is about 20 km north of Ingham.
CSR no longer owns the Sugar Mills in Ingham because they sold them to Sucrogen, an offshore-based company.
Australian-Italian Festival
The Australian-Italian Festival is held in Ingham in May each year and is one of the most popular events in the region, with thousands of people attending the event. The festival celebrates Ingham's cultural background, dating from the 1890s, when the first Italian immigrants came to the region. More than half the population of the town are of Italian descent.[6] The town is known as "Little Italy".
The annual festival, held at the Ingham Showgrounds, began as an idea from a community workshop.[6] Many Italians visit from Italy to celebrate the event, reinforcing the cultural ties between the inhabitants of Ingham and Italy.
Heritage listings
Ingham has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
- Old Bruce Highway: Gairloch Bridge[7]
- 5 Lynch Street: Ruth Fairfax House[8]
- 35-39 Palm Terrace: Ingham Court House[9]
People
Notable individuals born in Ingham include Tracey Curro (journalist), Walter Mason (author),[10][11] Greg Dowling (rugby league), Sam Backo (rugby league), Laurie Spina (rugby league), Nick Euclid (rugby league), Arthur Fadden (13th Prime Minister of Australia), Francis Patrick Donovan (Ambassador) and Keith Payne (Victoria Cross recipient).
Climate
Ingham has a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen climate classification Am). Which like the rest of Far North Queensland has a Very humid and hot wet season that runs from November to April and a less humid and warm dry season that runs from May to October. Ingham is part of the Queensland Wet Tropics bioregion.
| Climate data for Ingham | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 32.4 (90.3) |
31.7 (89.1) |
30.8 (87.4) |
29.1 (84.4) |
27.1 (80.8) |
25.2 (77.4) |
24.9 (76.8) |
26.2 (79.2) |
28.4 (83.1) |
30.4 (86.7) |
31.8 (89.2) |
32.5 (90.5) |
29.2 (84.6) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 23.0 (73.4) |
23.2 (73.8) |
22.3 (72.1) |
20.3 (68.5) |
17.8 (64) |
14.8 (58.6) |
13.7 (56.7) |
14.3 (57.7) |
16.0 (60.8) |
18.4 (65.1) |
20.7 (69.3) |
22.1 (71.8) |
18.9 (66) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 380.1 (14.965) |
470.4 (18.52) |
381.0 (15) |
203.0 (7.992) |
107.5 (4.232) |
46.3 (1.823) |
35.8 (1.409) |
37.5 (1.476) |
39.3 (1.547) |
51.3 (2.02) |
121.0 (4.764) |
197.6 (7.78) |
2,141.6 (84.315) |
| Source: [12] | |||||||||||||
Cyclone shelter
Following the devastation caused by cyclone Yasi in Far North Queensland in February 2011, Ingham is one of a number of towns where a cyclone shelter was built. The Ingham cyclone shelter is capable of withstanding winds of more than 300 kilometres (190 mi) per hour, as experienced in a category five cyclone. The building serves as a multi-purpose sports facility for the Ingham State High School while in a cyclone it provides shelter for up to 800 people. The shelter was opened by Premier Campbell Newman in January 2013.[13]
See also
References
- 1 2 Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Ingham (Urban Centre/Locality)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
- ↑ "Warakamai People". AusAnthrop Australian Aboriginal tribal database. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
- ↑ Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Premier Postal Auctions. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- ↑ "Historical Towns Directory: Ingham". Heritage Australia Publishing. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
- ↑ The Tramways of the Ingham District Verhoeven, G Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, June, 1971 pp122-131
- 1 2 Australian Italian Festival Ingham. Retrieved on 17 May 2012.
- ↑ "Gairloch Bridge (entry 602591)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ↑ "5 Lynch Street (entry 602193)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ↑ "Ingham Court House (entry 601546)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ↑ Mason, Walter (2008), Destination Saigon : adventures in Vietnam, Inspired Living / Allen & Unwin, ISBN 978-1-74175-949-5
- ↑ "Tina Arena". Walter Mason. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
- ↑ "Climate statistics for Ingham". Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
- ↑ "World class cyclone shelter for Ingham". Department of the Premier and Cabinet (Queensland Government). January 16, 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ingham, Queensland. |
- University of Queensland: Queensland Places: Ingham
- Ingham region - Great Green Way
- Hinchinbrook Shire Council
- Hinchinbrook Shire Libraries
- Australian-Italian Festival
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