Laura

History

Aboriginal people have made their home in the Laura River valley for at least 50,000 years. In the wet season, they would camp under rock shelters on the high ground. This is where their rock art can be found. The area was on the borders of Kokowara and Kokojawa lands. Guugu Yimithirr (also known as Koko Yindjir, Gugu Yimidhirr, Guguyimidjir) is an Australian Aboriginal language of Hope Vale and the Cooktown area. The language region includes the local government area of the Aboriginal Shire of Hope Vale and the Shire of Cook, particularly the localities of Cape Bedford, Battle Camp (in Laura) and sections of the Normanby River and Annan River. Kuku-Thaypan (also known as Gugu Dhayban, Kuku Taipan, Thaypan) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken in Hann River, Laura and Musgrave River and on Mornington Island, within the local government boundaries of the Cook Shire. Some of the earliest pastoral leases on Cape York Peninsula were taken up in the Laura district. However, the town of Laura did not develop until the discovery of gold on the Palmer River. The town takes its name from the Laura River, which in turn was named in 1873 by explorer and surveyor Archibald Campbell Macmillan after his wife Laura Bower (née Poingdestre). A Native Mounted Police camp was established near the Lower Laura crossing to protect travellers. Maytown State School opened circa 1877 and closed in 1917. It reopened in 1924 and closed in 1925. During the gold boom a railway line was planned between Cooktown and the Palmer gold fields. By 1888 the Cooktown to Laura Railway had been built as far as Laura. Laura Post Office opened on 8 October 1888. Laura Provisional School opened on 19 March 1889 and closed in 1903. The railway was extended towards the Palmer gold fields with an…

Geography

The locality of Laura is on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland. The town of Laura is on the Peninsula Developmental Road, the only road that extends towards the north of the peninsula, terminating at Weipa. Quinkan Reserve 2 (also known as West Quinkan Reserve) is a protected area for the rock art in the east of the locality (). Apart from the rock art reserves, the land use is predominantly grazing on native vegetation.

Most-observed species

• Torresian Crow

  Corvus orru Bonaparte, 1850 · Aves
  123
• Blue-faced Honeyeater

  Entomyzon cyanotis (Latham, 1801) · Aves
  122
• Galah

  Eolophus roseicapilla (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  115
• Black-backed Butcherbird

  Cracticus mentalis Salvadori & Albertis, 1875 · Aves
  104
• Great Bowerbird

  Chlamydera nuchalis (Jardine & Selby, 1830) · Aves
  77
• Black Kite

  Milvus migrans (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  71
• Rainbow Lorikeet

  Trichoglossus haematodus (Linnaeus, 1771) · Aves
  68
• Magpie-lark

  Grallina cyanoleuca (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  62