page_title: Herberton, Queensland
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Herberton, Queensland / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Mount St. Bernard College in Herberton, Queensland, ca. 1919 Catholic college buildings under construction in Herberton.
context_page_description: Herberton is a rural town and locality in the Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Herberton had a population of 855 people.
  At its apogee, Herberton was the richest tin mining field in Australia, and was home to 17 public hotels, 2 local newspapers and a brewery.
context_section_description: The first European exploration of this area, part of the traditional land of the Dyirbal, was undertaken in 1875 by James Venture Mulligan. Mulligan was prospecting for gold, but instead found tin. The town of Herberton was established on 19 April 1880 by John Newell to exploit the tin find, and mining began on 9 May 1880. By September 1880, Herberton had a population of 300 men and 27 women. Herberton Post Office opened on 22 November 1880.
  The town's name is attributed to John Newell. It is believed he named it after the Herbert River whose northern tributary (Wild River) flows through Herberton and/or after Robert George Wyndham Herbert, the first Premier of Queensland (after whom the Herbert River is named).
  In July 1881 the residents of Herberton had raised £115 for the construction of a school. Herberton Provisional School opened on 12 December 1881 with 35 students in the Herberton Hall; the fee was one shilling per week for the first child of a family with an additional sixpence a week for each additional child. In October 1882 the Queensland Government  reserved five acres and two roods for a state school and called for tenders to erect a state school and teacher's residence. In November 1882 the contract for the buildings was awarded to James Pasley to construct the buildings using hardwood in nine months for £2,040. In April 1883 the Queensland Government officially announced that there would be a new state school in Herberton. The actual opening date of the new state school is unclear but Thomas Peter Wood was appointed headmaster of Herberton State School from 1 January 1884, so the school was operational at that time. In 1912 the school was one of the first five schools in Queensland to receive a secondary department, commencing operations on 15 February 1912 with the arrival of the teacher Miss Ramsay B.A. who would teach two languages, English history, mathematics, and science. In 1994 a new primary school campus was established with the secondary department remaining on the original school site.
  In January 1882 the Queensland Government called for tenders to construct a telegraph line to Herberton. In March 1882 they called for tenders for a post and telegraph office.
  In the late 19th century the Mulligan Highway was carved through the hills from Herberton and passed through what is now Main Street, Atherton, before continuing down to Port Douglas. This road was used by the coaches of Cobb and Co to access Western Queensland.
  The tin mining in Herberton motivated the Queensland Government to build a railway line to connect Herberton to a coastal port.  Three ports were considered: Port Douglas, Cairns and Geraldton (now Innisfail), all involving a crossing of the Great Dividing Range. The route from Innisfail was shortest but would go through the roughest terrain crossing the Great Dividing Range. The route from Port Douglas was the easiest to build but it would be longest. Eventually Cairns was chosen as it had the best port (and the unstable geology of the proposed Barron Gorge route was not known at that time) and the first section of the Tablelands railway from Cairns to Redlynch at the base of the range was opened on 8 October 1887. However, the railway to Herberton was not completed until 20 October 1910 by which time the tin mining boom was over.
  St Mary's Anglican School for girls was opened in 1918 by the Sisters of the Sacred Advent. The school closed in 1965.
  Mount St Bernard College was established on 1 February 1921 by the Sisters of Mercy.
  Tin mining ceased in Herberton in 1985.
  The Herberton Public Library opened in 1995 with a major refurbishment in 2016.
  At the 2006 census, Herberton had a population of 974.
  In the 2011 census, Herberton had a population of 934 people.
caption: Mount St. Bernard College under construction
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