Halifax is a small sugar cane town in the Shire of Hinchinbrook, on the Herbert River. Motorists must pass through Halifax to reach Lucinda. Situated in the Herbert River valley, Halifax is north-east of the Victoria Estate sugar crushing mill and the Macknade mill, both owned by CSR.
Location: 15 km northeast of Ingham; 130 km north of Townsville; 230 km south of Cairns.
Brief history: Halifax is named after nearby Halifax Bay, which was charted and named by Lieutenant James Cook in 1770. The Earl of Halifax (George Montagu Dunk, 1716-71) was Secretary of State in England during 1763-65. The district was opened for selection after George Dalrymple’s expedition from Port Hinchinbrook (Cardwell) in 1864, and developed as a sugar growing district. The town began when August Anderssen, a blacksmith, purchased the land in 1880, after which time the land was turned into sugar plantations. With other settlers Anderssen developed sugar plantations, and the rudiments of the settlement – a hotel (1881) and store – were established.
The town prospered, and through the 1880s was equal in importance to Ingham. The development of a sugar tram line from Ingham to a deepwater port at Lucinda during the mid-1890s effectively marginalised Halifax as a service hub for the sugar industry. Despite its eclipse by Ingham, Halifax evolved a range of civic and cultural institutions, its population peaking just under the 900 mark in the 1950s.
That many Italian families migrated to Halifax and the surrounding area after 1900 to service the fledgling sugar industry is evidenced by the large number of gravestones of Italians in the town cemetery. Their headstones are grand, and the names difficult to decipher, particularly as there is an Italian habit of reversing the order of the names.
Lucinda is a coastal town in North Queensland, located at the southern entrance to Hinchinbrook Channel near the town of Ingham. A sugar-exporting town, Lucinda is noted for its 6 km-long sugar jetty, the world’s largest bulk sugar loading facility. Lucinda is also used as a port for a supply barge to Palm Island. As a tourist attraction Lucinda has the longest loading jetty in the southern hemisphere, 5.8km that actually curves with the earth. It services the sugar industry by loading raw sugar onto approximately 20 international ships per year. This facility and the large storage faculties is a tourist attraction, fascinating many visitors. Lucinda is serviced by a convenience store and post office on Dennis Parade and a hotel on Lucinda Point Road. It is also frequently serviced by Ingham and the nearby town of Halifax.
