Port Douglas Wharf and Storage Shed (former)

On the waterfront, tucked in behind St Mary’s chapel, is the Port Douglas Sugar Wharf and Storage Shed. It operates as a venue for weddings and events. The wharf was erected in 1905, managed by the Douglas Shire Council. Port Douglas was established in 1877 as a port for the Hodgkinson Goldfield, west of the Great Dividing Range. Port Douglas’s development initially outpaced Cairns, until Cairns became the terminus of the Atherton Tablelands railway in 1885. Port Douglas then became the port for the Mossman Central Sugar Mill, built in 1887. A tramway was built between Mossman and Port Douglas in 1900. The desire for a deep water jetty in the town was finally realised in 1905 and the tramway was extended onto the jetty and a sugar storage shed built on it. This operated until 1958 when the bulk sugar terminal was built in Cairns and road transport usurped water transport. Port Douglas then became a sleepy fishing village. These days the old sugar tramway has been repurposed to ferry tourist from the international resorts along Four Mile Beach into the town.