Population 4,706 (2011 census) Postcode(s) 4850 Postal code 4850 Local time Monday 2:36 PM | Established 1864 Elevation 12 m | |
 | ||
Weather 32°C, Wind E at 14 km/h, 56% Humidity | ||
Ingham is a town and locality in the Shire of Hinchinbrook, North Queensland, Australia. It is the administrative centre for the Shire of Hinchinbrook. At the 2011 Australian Census the town recorded a population of 4,706.
Contents
- Map of Ingham QLD 4850 Australia
- Geography
- History
- Industry
- Attractions
- Australian Italian Festival
- Heritage listings
- People
- Climate
- Cyclone shelter
- References
Map of Ingham QLD 4850, Australia
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, which is served by the Ingham railway station. The Bruce Highway also passes through the town.
History
Prior to European settlement, the Ingham area was inhabited by the Warakamai People.
The town was founded in 1864. It gazetted as the local government area Hinchinbrook Division in 1879, becoming the Shire of Hinchinbrook in 1903. The town is named after William Bairstow Ingham, a pioneer sugar planter on the Herbert River in 1874.
Lower Herbert Post Office opened on 1 January 1871 and was renamed Ingham in 1882.
Industry
Ingham is the service centre for many sugarcane plantations. Victoria Sugar Mill, the largest sugar mill in Australia and one of the largest in the southern hemisphere, owned by Wilmar Sugar Australia Limited, which is located close to the township of Ingham (Approx. 6km). Much of the cane is transported to the mills by light tramlines.
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 which sits alongside the TYTO Wetlands and Tiddaliks Cafe (no longer open). 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 the first weekend in August 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. The town is known as "Little Italy".
The annual festival, held at TYTO Wetlands, began as an idea from a community workshop. 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:
People
Notable individuals born in Ingham include:
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.
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.