1/194The River Estate Sugar mill closed after the 1891 crushing.
150 years of Mackay history
In 2016 the Mackay Daily Mercury published ‘The Daily Mercury – 150 Years of News’ celebrating the history of Mackay. This is a selection of photographs from that publication dating back to 1866.
2/194The Mackay Mercury - 1890.
3/194The new Sydney Street Bridge looking across the Pioneer River to the City.
4/194The Mackay-Sarina Coach in front of the old Post Office at Sarina - 1890s
5/194Mackay Court House, which opened in 1886, became the police headquarters when the new court house was opened in 1939
6/194Mackay 1888.
7/194Australian Joint and Stock Bank - Mackay 1880.
8/194Looking down the Pioneer River to the east, Mackay 1888.
9/194Fryerne Built in 1883 - destroyed by fire in 1888.
10/1941897 Engines test Mirani Railway Bridge
11/194Cane loading in the Mackay district 1895
12/194North Eton Central Mill which opened in 1888.
13/194"The Wold" (J. Brackenbury) Typical Farm, Habana Plantation. c 1896
14/194Mortonvilla, Mackay, the home of E.S Rawson in Brisbane St. c 1894
15/194Looking west along River Street , Mackay. 1888 or 1889.
16/194Cremorne Gardens in North Mackay established by John Greenwood Barnes who came to Mackay in 1863. Photo 1885
17/194An ad for R.Kippens Hillside Store at Coningsby.
18/194Cremorne 1888Photo Daily Mercury Archives
19/194TeKowai 1885 - MackayPhoto Daily Mercury Archives
20/194Lionel Knight Rice's house, house at Dumbleton.Judge Cooper had a holiday there. c. 1880s.
21/194Habana Plantation hospital for Kanakas, 1884.
22/194Mackays new Post Office, completed in 1883 was one of the citys grandest buildings. 1883.
23/194Pioneer on horseback in front of a heavy crop of sugar cane. Big crops such as these contributed to the sugar boom in the early 1880s. An early report speaks of the "cane fairly jumping out of the ground" because of the abundant rainfall.
24/194Advertisement for Barron Brothers Cordial. c 1883.
25/194Mackay Post Office 1883.
26/194Advertisement for A. Grant, Undertaker.
27/194Mackay - A view from the roof of the Australian Joint Stock Bank looking south-west over Sydney Street around 1883, with the roof of the Holy Trinity Church of England at left.
28/194Daily Mercury Building, moved here on the 15 March 1875, photo taken 1880.
29/194Early view of Mackay looking south-eats towards Queens park and Shakespeare St. photo taken from River Street.
30/1941897 People walking over the new Mirani Railway Bridge.
31/194Cottages on Flat Top Island, Mackay 1882.
32/194Mackays first Masonic Hall 1880.
33/194Mackay 1875 preparing to build first Pioneer (hospital) bridge.
34/194Bronzewing Mackay 1875.
35/194Children at Mackay State school, 1875.
36/194Mackays Pioneer River bank badly eroded after flooding, 1876Photo Daily Mercury Archives
37/194Wills Hotel 1876Photo Daily Mercury Archives
38/194Bronzewing in the Pioneer River, Mackay 1875.
39/194Plumber John Gogay's shop in Sydney St. 1877.
40/194Mackays first Holy Trinity Church - 1878.
41/194River St Mackay looking east. Leichardt Tree in centre. c 1878.
42/194Holy Trinity Church 1880.
43/194River Street Mackay, unloading machinery for The Palms Mill from the ASN Company ship, Yaralla 1881.
44/194The children of Hill End School. (later) Glenella) 1879.
45/194Walkerston - Duke of Edinburgh Hotel 1880
46/194Mackay's new Holy Trinity Church and Refectory built in the 1880s.
47/194John Spiller's Pioneer House built on his Pioneer plantation on the north side of the river. 1879.
48/194Mackay Sydney Street 1880.
49/194Kanaka Schooner Mystery 1873.
50/194Mackay Custom House 1872.
51/194Islanders returning home probably on the schooner Mystery. 1873.
52/1941st Mackay District Hospital after it opened in 1871.
53/194Horse tied up in stockyard on the corner of Sydney and Victoria St. Queens Hotel in the background, (left). 1872.
54/194Mackay 1873 River Embankment under construction.
55/194Alexandra Mill was the first mill established in the Mackay district. It became the 1st mill to crush in the district on September 9, c 1870 Source G.N Marten CollectionPhoto Daily Mercury Archives
56/194River Street, Mackay, looking east. C 1873
57/194Sydney Street Mackay 1875.
58/194Alexandra Mill was the first mill established in the Mackay district. It became the 1st mill to crush in the district on September 9, 1868.Photo Daily Mercury Archives
59/194St Patrick's Catholic church that was built in 1873 , photo taken around 1901.
60/194Early view of Mackay 1868Photo Daily Mercury Archives
61/194An early watercolour sketch of the Port of Mackay by Charles Collinson Rawson, with the Leichardt tree featured. 1869.
62/194Believed to be Aborigines from the Mackay Region, 1869.
63/194Historical Crocodile Picture Photo by A.Kipling 1870 Mackay. Crocodile 15 foot 3 inches killed by Mr. GN Marten below Branscombe Plantation.
64/194River St looking west, photo shows the railway line, c 1912.
65/194Firefighters fight blaze at lagoons Hut.
66/194Mackay Telegraph Line construction 1867.
67/194The Amy Robsart and the Hannah Newton at the site of the Mackay Wharves 1868
68/194South Sea Islander labourers feeding cane through rollers at Alexandra Mill. c 1868.
69/194Tinonee, Pioneer River Mackay, looking back towards wharves, Leichardt Tree in centre, 1873.
70/194The first committee of the Mackay Turf Club, 1867.
71/194The Mackay Harbour Board Building, 1903.
72/194Custom House Mackay 1904
73/194Butter Employees 1906.
74/194Croquet being played at "Summerlands" near the Lagoons - Home of the Win Marsh family. Photo taken in 1904.
75/194This photograph shows the delegates attending the first Australian Sugar Producers Association meeting in Mackay in June 1909.
76/194Patriotic procession, Federation march 1901
77/194Sydney Street Mackay 1911
78/194Mackay Post Office staff with Post Master J.V Brown (centre front) 1904.
79/194Boat Passage Percy Island 1907Photo Daily Mercury Archives
80/194General Hospital Mackay - 1898.
81/194Kanakas at their mission church, Farleigh, 1903.
82/194Early machinery to pump water from Pioneer, 1899.
83/194Dows Creek Church of England. c 1897
84/194Melba House c 1903
85/194The Brinawar towing sugar barge in the Proserpine River. 1906.
86/194Patriotic procession, Federation march 1901
87/194The Iceberg unloading machinery for Plane Creek Mill. 1904.
88/194The Laborartory at the Lagoons, Mackay, became the first bureau of sugar experiment stations in 1899. It was moved to TeKowai in 1934. Photo: Department of Primary Industries. Mackay 1910.
89/194Believed to photo of the General Gordon Hotel at Homebush. 1908.
90/194Macjkay Citizens Parade through the streets in 1901
91/194Port of Mackay as it was until the new Mackay Harbour was built in 1939
92/194Bakers Creek rail bridge 1912.
93/194Allsopp and Wallin Coach builders next to the Belmore Arms (McGuire's Hotel).The vehicles pictured have been painted for a competition in 1912- Mackay Show.
94/194Mackay Technical College (Mackay High School) from a postcard owned by Mrs May Hess (nee Walz) 1912
95/194A view of Sydney St looking from the Sydney St Bridge, 1912.
96/194School of Arts - 1911
97/194Jack Sharpley in his new car outside his home in Wellington St. 1913.
98/194Loading cane in Mackay. c 1916
99/194Nebo General Store operated by the Butterworth family, 1915.
100/194Phot of Mackay by A.Milne, taken from a Kodak Camera attached to a kite. 1915.Photo Daily Mercury Archives
101/194Labour Day March, River Street 1914.
102/194Wood St, looking south after the 1918 cyclone, The Daily Mercury building is 2nd from right.
103/194Funeral Service early 1900's. Horse drawn glass hearse
104/194Aftermath of fire in Victoria Street 1916
105/194Aftermath of the 1918 Cyclone, Sydney Street.
106/194Working for George Johnson, shed building. 1915.
107/194DONATION: This ambulance in Mackay was donated to the war effort in 1915 by Mrs Flo Reid Photo Mackay Historical Society and Museum.
108/194Lindeman Island 1920
109/194Wharf sheds still in disrepair after 1918 cyclone in Mackay - circ 1920s
110/194Albert with daughter Althea and sons John and Tom at Christmas, 1920. The tricycle pictured is on display at Greenmount homestead today.
111/194Anglican Holy Trinity church after the 1918 cyclone
112/194Aftermath of the 1918 cyclone.
113/194Ferrying supplies over the rail bridge south to Sarina after Bakers Creek Bridge was washed away. 1919.
114/194Sydney St Bridge, aftermath of cyclone. 1919.
115/194Early line up of Taxis in Sydney Street between Gordon and Victoria Street, looking south. 1922.
116/194POPULAR DAY: The aanual show was an important and popular event during the 1920s and as this photo shows, residents donned their best attire and attended in large numbers. 1921.
117/194BRIDGE REPAIRS: Work repairing the Sydney St bridge that was serverly damaged in the 1918 cyclone continued well into 1921.
118/1941921 - Annual Soldiers picnic at Louisa Creek
119/194Chinese Greengrocer W. Moys store in Chinatown, Mackay. 1920
120/194First steam train at St. Lawrence Station for opening of Mackay, Rockhampton railway.1921 Photo Daily Mercury Archives
121/194New Talbot fire engine delivered to Mackay in July 1921. Built in Rockhampton and railed to Mackay.
122/194Hospital Bridge looking north, 1920.
123/194Howard cane harvester - one of the early mechanical cane - cutting machines, 1930.
124/194LOOKING TO NEW YEAR: Pioneer Shire Councillorsand staff gathered at the end of 1933. Back Row: Miss G. Holmes, Cr John J. Hendrick, Cr Earnest Evans, Miss J. I.Clark, Mr J. Seabrook. Centre: Cr Fred Knobel, Cr Thomas Kirwan, Cr Edward Hannan, Mr Fred Clark, Shire Chairman Cr D. L. Ross. Front: Cr John J. Hand, Cr Charles Westcott, Cr George Winton,and Mr A. H. Rutherford.
125/194ADMINISTRATION: In 1935 the Pioneer Shire Council offices were in this building in Wood St. The offices were on the western side of Wood St between Victoria and River streets
126/194Mackay Mater Hospital ready for opening August 1936 - picture taken July 1936
127/194CITY HEART: Some of the classic buildings in Victoria St in the early 1930s. This view is looking west. Note the ice delivery van on the left.
128/194CIVIC LEADERS: Mirani Shire councillors and staff in October 1935. They were (l to r) Back row: shire clerk Mr E. Lloyd, clerk Mr C. V. Austine; third row: consulting engineer Mr J. A. A. Pollock, Cr J.W Madill, Cr A. Lisk, Cr H. T. Kable, consulting engineer Mr C. N. Barton. Second row: Cr P. E. Neilsen, Cr J. McFaul, shire chairman Cr G Johnson, Cr T. Comerford, Cr R Curran. Front row: Cr J. Jones, Cr P. H. McLean, overseer Mr A. Pitts.
129/194MECC Opening Jimmy Barnes played 2009.
130/194LARGE LOGS: Logging was another substantial industry carried out in the Mackay district. This photograph shows a group of very large trees on a truck in the district in the late 1940s or 1950s.
131/194VICTORIOUS: The Daily Mercury Cricket Club side that won the reserve grade competition for the 1948-49 season.
132/194TRANSPORT: A Mackay Bus Service vehicle that operated in the area during the 1940s. This bus was pictured in Wood St. (McGuire's Hotel is in the background) and was bound for Eimeo.Photo Daily Mercury Archives
133/194SOCIAL SCENE: The Holy Trinity Parish Hall on the corner of Gordon and Wood St around the time of its opening in April 1938.
134/194MECHANICAL CUTTING: A cane cutting machine during a harvest in the early 1950s. Maurice Schimidtke drives the tractor and adjusts the level of the ground blade while Ernie Graham operates the topper.
135/194SHELTER: Ambulance officers and workers stand atop the newly-completed ambulance air raid shelter in Alfred St in 1942.
136/194GRAND BUILDING: The American Red Cross Service Club building that was on the corner of Brisbane and Victoria streets during the war years. 1939
137/194R and R: The old Eagers building in Wood St was used as a Red Cross recreational hall for US servicemen after they arrived in 1943. Next to it is the imposing Masonic Lodge.
138/194Josh Parker wades through flood waters at his North Mackay home. 2007.
139/194Canelands Shopping Town 1979.
140/194New three storey wing of the Mater Hospital, Mackay. Ready for opening 1962
141/194Andergrove State School playground almost deserted during teachers dispute over class sizes, 1982.
142/194The first students to attend the new Mackay State High School Milton St campus, February 1960.
143/194IN STEP: Soldiers of the 42nd Battalion march down Victoria St on March 30, 1959 as part of the Freedom of the City ceremony. The Whitsunday Hotel now stands on the site of the Victoria Hotel that can be seen in the photograph.
144/194Richard Scrimshaw finds the appropriate way to get around at Perkins Street, North Mackay during the 2008 floods.
145/194Corner of Mackay-Bucasia Rd and Phillip St at Mt Pleasant, looking North, 1981.
146/194May Day Procession Float - c 1947
147/194Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal - 1998.
148/194Sydney St looking North in 1965Photo Daily Mercury Archives
149/194CITY FATHER: Probably one of the last photographs ever taken of Ian Wood when in November 1991 he joined with students of the Whitsunday Anglican School to turn the first sod for the building of a music centre to be named after his sister.
150/194Mackay State High School in 1962- the year it opened its Milton Street Campus- looking east from Milton St.
151/194Firemen entering front door of Waltons, Sydney St 1983
152/194Michelmores Wharehouses on River St are lapped by floodwater during the 1979 flooding caused by Cyclone Kerry. The site is now Blue Water Quay. 1979.
153/194Traffic on the old Forgan Bridge on a wet day. Work on a new version would start in 2007.
154/194INLAND SEA: Flood water was deep in this Andergrove sSt between Christmas and New Year in 1990.
155/194Flood water laps Forgan Bridge during January 1970.Photo Daily Mercury Archives
156/194Goonyella railway line washed out after wet season, 1991.
157/194NOT SO PARALLEL: Rails buckled by extreme heat near Jilalan, south of Sarina. 1995.
158/194Flooding in River St. 1970
159/194Mackay Surf Lifesaving Building at Mackay Harbour. It was replaced by a new building further east at New Mulherin Park. 1972.
160/194Mackay Entertainment in the final stage of construction. 1988
161/194New City Council Administration building looking south from Gordon St. 1975.
162/194NEW CLUB: A large crowd of players turned out to be part of the opening of the North Mackay Bowls Club in April, 1948. Bowlers from all the clubs attended. 1948.
163/194Soundshell Demolished -2009.
164/194LARGE LOGS: Logging was another substantial industry carried out in the Mackay district. This photograph shows a group of very large trees on a truck in the district in the late 1940s or 1950s.
165/194Mackay 1938 Aerial View of Gordon Street - Holy Trinity Church and Parish Hall in centre.
166/194Aerial view of Mackay High School and Technical College in Alfred St. The fire station is at the left. The site is now occupied by CQ Universitys City Campus. 1960.
167/194Sydney Street Bridge, Mackay 1938
168/194NATURES FURY: The mangled telpher crane that was damaged during the cyclonic conditions of March 1938 that eroded the southern breakwater during its construction.
169/194MONSTER CAUGHT: Jim Hamilton, with his rifle, and others with the shark that was hooked after Frank Gurran was mauled in Dump Creek in December 1939.
170/194Loading at Mackay Harbour - Paddy ORourke ansd Andy OverendPhoto Daily Mercury Archives
171/194LIVING QUARTERS: Cromer House in Shakespeare St that the YMCA brought to use as a hostel for young working women. 1948.
172/194BUSY PORT: Following its opening in 1939, the Mackay Harbour was a bustling place by the 1940s. This photo shows a shop taking on sugar that was taken to the harbour by rail.Photo Daily Mercury Archives
173/194TIME OUT: Three US Servicemen in Mackay during the war pose for a photograph in Victoria St. They were J.Miller, C. Squibb and F. Bissett.
174/194FIRST LADY: Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of the President of the United States of America, Franklin D. Roosevelt, is escorted to her plane after her stay in Mackay on September 12. She visited US troops and the Red Cross during her visit.
175/194LATEST VENUE: The crowd gathers in front of the new Memorial Club after the march of veterans and prior to the official opening in November 1955.
176/194VITAL WORK: Mackay City Council senior staff oversee the loading of coal at the Bee Creek deposit, urgently needed to keep the city supplied with electricity.
177/194CAR DEALERSHIP: The Fields Motors showroom in Wood St in 1948. It is now the City Plaza Arcade.
178/194The North Queensland Cowboys show off the premiership trophy to Mackay fans at the Bluewater Quay. 2015.
179/194BIG CROWD: Mackay residents fill the sugar pier to welcome the Sydney Star as it arrives for the opening of the harbour in August 1939.
180/194May Day Procession Float - c 1947.
181/194Royal Hotel and Royal theatre burning down in 1962
182/194Alf Casey with his pet croc Charlene, c 1980
183/194Pudgy the Platypus comes on board as a mascot for Tourism Mackay, pictured here with Joanne Libline in May 1991.
184/194Ald. Min (Mary Ellen ?) Struthers First woman elected to city council, but not the first female councillor, that honour belongs to Ald Mary Finlay appointed in 1930s.
185/194Captain John McLean - 1987.
186/194Much loved Mackay identity Nev Burston - better known as Nev the Pieman - sold his last pie on January 25, 1995.
187/194Ian Wood, a former Mayor of Mackay and Queensland Senator, in front of Bona Vista at Mount Pleasant. Mr Wood purchased 'Bona Vista', which was built by Harry Hill in 1909 for James Croker, in 1953. The building was sold by Mr Wood in 1990 and demolished in 1991.
188/194Ram Chandra and black head python. Picture: Peter Holt
189/194Sir Albert Abbott - 1970
190/194ENTERTAINER: Ginger, Malcolm McPhees ventiloquist doll which celebrated its 41st birthday in 1958. This photo from the Australian War Memorial shows Ginger with a new friend at the end of the Second World War.
191/194T.A. Cook of Greenmount, 12 December 1974.
192/194The crocodile at Mulherin Park.
193/194Snoopy keeps an eye on Mulherin Park.
194/194KEEN INTEREST: John Bickmore at the Souths versus Brothers match, 2011. Photo Lee Constable
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