Adelaide Steamship Co Ltd (former)

Cairns in the early 20th century, was a burgeoning port. Many shipping agencies operated here, particularly after the establishment of the Harbour Board in 1905, which initiated the dredging of a channel into Trinity Inlet. The Adelaide Steamship Company Ltd, established in Adelaide in 1875, began the coastal trade in Queensland in 1893. It established a Cairns branch office in 1905 and purchased the site for this building in 1907, employing local architect Howard Draper to design the new building. Construction commenced in January 1910 and the building was completed by the end of the year, by contractors Wilson and Baillie. It was designed with the tropical climate in mind in the newly developed Arts and Crafts manner, and boasted the best of modern furnishings. In March 1911, crowds gathered at the office of the Adelaide Steamship Company Ltd for word of the fate of the ‘SS Yongala’ when it failed to arrive on a trip from Mackay. Lost in a cyclone, this was one of the worst shipping disasters in Queensland history, with a loss of an estimated 122 people. The wreck was not located until 1947, and is now a popular dive site. The building houses commercial offices.