Its a wet cold day here in Atherton so we went off just up the road to visit, the old china town section of Atherton and I was not expecting much but it was surprising and we had a guided tour around the place and it was all explained to us about the little town etc.
I will post a good number of photos as not much is left on site but what is so great to see.
Cost was only $10.00 each well worth the money
I will post a good number of photos as not much is left on site but what is so great to see.
Cost was only $10.00 each well worth the money
History of China town
Atherton Chinatown, in Australia's tropical North Queensland developed in the late 1800s, and by the late 1920s was almost deserted. The town left a legacy: a highly significant archaeological site and a unique Chinese temple.
This open area surrounding the Atherton Chinese Temple was the site of a Chinese settlement which was established in the mid 1880s. It grew to service Chinese tenant farmers in the Atherton area and peaked in importance in the early 1900s when there were over a hundred buildings on site. Its decline began after the first world war when Chinese-held agricultural leases were revoked in favour of returned servicemen and most Chinese left the area. By the late 1940s, virtually all buildings had been removed.
Atherton Chinatown was one of many Chinese settlements that sprang up in Australia during the nineteenth century. The Chinese began to arrive in large numbers following the first gold rushes of the 1850s. Most of them came from provinces in the south east of China where conditions were harsh. Almost all were male and many were poor, having borrowed the money for their fares from Chinese guilds. They hoped to make enough money to pay off their debt, to send money home to their families and to eventually return themselves with enough capital to secure their futures. For mutual support and to maintain contacts with their homeland, they lived and worked together, creating Chinatowns within, or on the fringes of, European settlements.
The discovery of gold on the Palmer River in 1873 led to an influx of miners to far north Queensland. Many of these were Chinese and by 1877 there were 17,000 Chinese on the Palmer River fields, vastly outnumbering the other diggers. Europeans felt threatened by their numbers, by their willingness to work for low recompense and because the Chinese maintained their own culture. Restrictions were placed on Chinese immigration and they were denied access to new mineral fields. Because of this, and as alluvial gold began to peter out on the Palmer field, the Chinese moved away and looked for other ways to earn money
Tin was discovered on the Wild River in 1880 which gave impetus to the development of the Atherton Tablelands. This is an area of volcanic plateaux, set in the Great Dividing Range, which has a mild climate and fertile soil. It was originally heavily forested and a group of Chinese, working with European timbergetters, moved into the Atherton area in the early 1880s. They established a settlement called Cedar Camp across Piebald Creek from the Europeans and a short distance from the tiny settlement of Prior's Pocket. In August 1885, this area was surveyed, renamed Atherton and land sales began.
Queensland legislation prevented Chinese land ownership, but many of them entered into leasing arrangements with Europeans. The newly cleared land could not be ploughed, but was well suited to the hand cultivation methods favoured by the Chinese, who became successful farmers. They supplied the developing town of Herberton with fruit and vegetables and pioneering the growing of maize, which became an important commercial crop for the area. The rents which they paid the land owners also provided a valuable source of income during the difficult economic period of the 1890s
Atherton's Chinatown is on a lease originally granted to Frederick Loder in 1887 and which was transferred freehold to Edward Jasper Loder in 1890. By 1897, there were over 180 Chinese living on the site which developed as a short main street lined with small timber and iron shops and houses. At the height of its development, around 1909, commercial premises located here included corn merchants, food and general goods stores, a herbalist, two gambling dens and a place of entertainment which employed musicians. There was also a Tong society meeting hall and a temple. At the time, this was the social and commercial centre for over a thousand Chinese people who were living in the Atherton district
This open area surrounding the Atherton Chinese Temple was the site of a Chinese settlement which was established in the mid 1880s. It grew to service Chinese tenant farmers in the Atherton area and peaked in importance in the early 1900s when there were over a hundred buildings on site. Its decline began after the first world war when Chinese-held agricultural leases were revoked in favour of returned servicemen and most Chinese left the area. By the late 1940s, virtually all buildings had been removed.
Atherton Chinatown was one of many Chinese settlements that sprang up in Australia during the nineteenth century. The Chinese began to arrive in large numbers following the first gold rushes of the 1850s. Most of them came from provinces in the south east of China where conditions were harsh. Almost all were male and many were poor, having borrowed the money for their fares from Chinese guilds. They hoped to make enough money to pay off their debt, to send money home to their families and to eventually return themselves with enough capital to secure their futures. For mutual support and to maintain contacts with their homeland, they lived and worked together, creating Chinatowns within, or on the fringes of, European settlements.
The discovery of gold on the Palmer River in 1873 led to an influx of miners to far north Queensland. Many of these were Chinese and by 1877 there were 17,000 Chinese on the Palmer River fields, vastly outnumbering the other diggers. Europeans felt threatened by their numbers, by their willingness to work for low recompense and because the Chinese maintained their own culture. Restrictions were placed on Chinese immigration and they were denied access to new mineral fields. Because of this, and as alluvial gold began to peter out on the Palmer field, the Chinese moved away and looked for other ways to earn money
Tin was discovered on the Wild River in 1880 which gave impetus to the development of the Atherton Tablelands. This is an area of volcanic plateaux, set in the Great Dividing Range, which has a mild climate and fertile soil. It was originally heavily forested and a group of Chinese, working with European timbergetters, moved into the Atherton area in the early 1880s. They established a settlement called Cedar Camp across Piebald Creek from the Europeans and a short distance from the tiny settlement of Prior's Pocket. In August 1885, this area was surveyed, renamed Atherton and land sales began.
Queensland legislation prevented Chinese land ownership, but many of them entered into leasing arrangements with Europeans. The newly cleared land could not be ploughed, but was well suited to the hand cultivation methods favoured by the Chinese, who became successful farmers. They supplied the developing town of Herberton with fruit and vegetables and pioneering the growing of maize, which became an important commercial crop for the area. The rents which they paid the land owners also provided a valuable source of income during the difficult economic period of the 1890s
Atherton's Chinatown is on a lease originally granted to Frederick Loder in 1887 and which was transferred freehold to Edward Jasper Loder in 1890. By 1897, there were over 180 Chinese living on the site which developed as a short main street lined with small timber and iron shops and houses. At the height of its development, around 1909, commercial premises located here included corn merchants, food and general goods stores, a herbalist, two gambling dens and a place of entertainment which employed musicians. There was also a Tong society meeting hall and a temple. At the time, this was the social and commercial centre for over a thousand Chinese people who were living in the Atherton district