Parramatta Park Cairns

Parramatta Park Cairns is a long way from its namesake in Sydney. It is a suburb with a population of approximately 4000 people. Traditionally it was a very working class suburb. However, Parramatta Park has experienced considerable gentrification over recent decades.

Parramatta Park Cairns History

First Land Sale

On 26 July 1884 auctioneer John McNamara sold what he called  “Walkerville Estate”, which he promoted as the first suburb of Cairns. These 400 lots were promoted for their proximity to the Herberton Railway line.

McNamara promoted the 400 lots in his land-release as a “paradise of health” and offered ‘a free return trip to Cairns’ to any Townsville residents who purchased 10 lots or more.

The Battle of Parramatta Park Cairns

What has become known as the “Battle of Parramatta Park” took place on the morning of Sunday, July 17th, 1932 in the midst of the depression.

Initially, the Cairns City Council asked unemployed homeless people camping in the showgrounds to vacate the area for the Cairns Show. However, they refused to go. By July many of the town’s people were angry because they could not set up for the show.

On July 17 police were called in to forcibly remove the men from the park, many towns’ people also took part in the hostilities and a riot broke out. During the confrontation, which earned the description of the bloodiest and worst ever in the town’s history, blows were traded between police, locals and the squatters.

The more seriously hurt were treated by five ambulance bearers at the scene. While the first ambulance vehicle to leave the ground was said to have conveyed three seriously injured itinerants for hospital treatment.

Parramatta Park Cairns Map

The suburb lies within Division 5 of the Cairns Regional Council local government area. At the state level it is completely within the Cairns electorate, while at the federal level the suburb is within the electorate of Leichhardt.

Parramatta Park Cairns Restaurants

There are not many restaurants in Parramatta Park. However, two are Cafe China on Mulgrave Road and Calaveras on Scott Street.

Parramatta Park Cairns Schools

There are three schools in the suburb. They are Parramatta State School, St Joseph’s and St Augustine’s. Parramatta State School is located on Mulgrave Road, while the two catholic schools are adjacent to the Cairns Showgrounds.

Barlow Park

Barlow Park is located at 251 – 269 Severin Street in Parramatta Park. It is Cairns national standard football and athletics facility. It has two rectangular fields, an IAAF-standard athletics track with grassed field, long jump pits, grandstand, corporate boxes, function room, eatery outlets and car parking.

Barlow Park is the home of Cairns Athletics, Far North Queensland Rugby League (FNQRL) and the Northern Pride Rugby League Club.

Parramatta Park Cairns Showgrounds

Cairns Showgrounds is one of the biggest Showgrounds in Australia. The main entry is at the corner of Mulgrave Road and Severin Street. The Cairns Show, held every July, is the largest regional agricultural show in Australia!

The site covers 17 hectares, including large grassed areas, often used for outdoor events. In addition to the grassed area, the area includes bitumen roads, buildings, pop-up shop fronts, stables and campsites.

Parramatta Park QLD

The suburb has a lower proportion of people in the younger age group (0 to 17 years) as well as a lower proportion of people in the older age group (60+ years).

• 16.9% of the population was aged between 0 and 17, compared with 24.5% in Regional Queensland.
• 13.4% were aged 60 years and over, compared with 18.3% average respectively in Cairns.

There are more lone person households than average with 35.8% compared to 22.5% in Regional QLD. This suburb also has:

• A larger percentage of ‘Young workforce’ (26.6% compared to 13.6%).
• Higher percentage of ‘Tertiary education & independence’ (11.0% compared to 8.0%).
• A smaller percentage of ‘Primary schoolers’ (5.0% compared to 9.9%)

Furthermore the major differences between the ancestries of the population in Parramatta Park and Regional QLD were:

• A larger percentage of people with Chinese ancestry (7.0% compared to 1.5%)
• A larger percentage of people with Japanese ancestry (5.5% compared to 0.5%)
• Higher percentage of people with Australian ancestry (24.4% compared to 37.7%)
• A smaller percentage of people with English ancestry (26.5% compared to 39.2%)

Parramatta Park Cairns Housing

The suburb is known and loved for its many old Queenslanders. These buildings help to give the suburb its distinct character.

Few of the buildings in the suburb are heritage listed. However Cairns Council has produced publications encouraging and promoting tropical design.

FAQs

Central Cairns

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