Douglas Shire Queensland 1911 Cyclone

Douglas Shire Historical Society Tropical North Queensland Australia
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Two men and a boy examine an eight foot sheet of corrugated iron embedded in the ground to a depth of 3 ft, 6 inches by the cyclone. Note repairs already effected to Crosbie's Hotel in the background. [Description supplied with photograph]

Two children sitting with a badly damaged piano amongst the debris from the Port Douglas cyclone of 1911

After the cyclone. View from McLean's Hotel Caledonian. [Description supplied with photograph]

The Devastating Cyclone of 1911

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Image shows the wreckage
of timber buildings in Port Douglas following the devastating cyclone of 1911. Amongst the debris a brick chimney stack remains intact. For a detailed description of the damage see the Queenslander, 25 March
1911, p.37. The cyclone struck Port Douglas on the 16th March 1911. Two lives were lost and most buildings in the town were levelled. Only seven out of fifty-seven houses were left standing with one hundred persons left homeless. Information taken from: Tropical cyclone impacts along the Australian east coast from November to April 1858 to 2000

Remnants of the Mill Kitchen at Mossman, Queensland, after the 1911 cyclone
The Mill Kitchen, or 'Ranch' after the 1911 cyclone (Description supplied with photograph). Very little of the timber building remains, while the brick chimney and corrugated iron sheds are still standing.

Millet's railway bridge in Mossman damaged by the 1911 cyclone.

Mahoney's residence after 1911 cyclone. [Description supplied with photograph] A woman sits in a chair on what may have been the verandah of the partially demolished house. Blankets and sheets are draped over a paling fence in the foreground of the image.

A sheet of corrugated roofing iron has been wrapped round a pole and behind the two boys are piles of additional debris created by the cyclone. (Description supplied with photograph)

On March 16th 1911 one of the worst cyclones on record hit Port Douglas and Mossman, and by the next morning both towns were wrecked.

"The steamer 'Palmer' arrived last night from Port Douglas, bringing news of absolutely the most devastating calamity that could possibly overtake an already unfortunate township. The cyclone which was of extraordinary intensity, struck the scattered buildings which constituted the town of Port Douglas on Thursday evening last, and now but few buildings remain ...

"... two sample rooms opposite McLean's Hotel collapsed, also the Shire Hall. St Mary's Roman Catholic Church Presbytery was blown to the ground, also St Andrew's Anglican Church, the Oddfellows Hall and the Joss House ... The lighthouse on the hill toppled over soon after the pilot had made his escape."

[Queenslander, 23/3/1911]

1911 16th March. A cyclone razed Port Douglas and surrounding countryside. Two people were killed. Within twenty-four hours, sixteen inches of rain fell.

Mrs Tait’s North Australian Hotel was rebuilt as a two-storey hotel. Some of it survives today.

Mrs J.D. Crosbie’s Court House Hotel (formerly Buchanan’s Family Hotel) with its single storey was extensively damaged.

The new two-storey Court House Hotel was built on the adjacent block where it is today, although the old Family Hotel continued to be used in a limited capacity until in 1961 it was condemned. It was moved to an adjacent lot but last drinks were finally called on 24^th November 1977.

The court house was blown off its stumps. In its rebuilding it was lifted and rotated 90 degrees and put on higher ground.

St Mary’s was rebuilt.

Sampson’s Exchange Hotel lost the greater part of its roof.

McLean’s Caledonian Hotel was unroofed and its brick chimney destroyed but it was the least damaged of all the pubs and was the only one to have its licence renewed in April.

Many buildings were never rebuilt because of the town’s uncertain future.

The cyclone struck on the 16th March, 1911, and almost completely destroyed Port Douglas and nearby Mossman.

Heaslop–Douglas Shire Council Collection
A dead horse and damage to the Port Douglas Court House as a result of the cyclone of 16 March 1911
Who was Heaslop?

A more detailed time line history has been published as a Bulletin and is available for $2 plus postage from the Douglas Shire Historical Society. Email