Silkwood

History

The town takes its name from the name of the house of A. J. Daveson, and refers to a local timber. By December 1916, there were 24 students. On 10 March 1918, many buildings in the town including the school were destroyed in a cyclone. Classes resumed on 16 September 1918 in a private home taught by Mr Kreuger. The rebuilding of the school was delayed by disagreements over rebuilding on the same site or moving to a new site. On 30 August 1920, a new school building was opened at the new location, but it was already too small as the school now had 66 students and additions to the building were immediately needed but were not completed until 4 July 1923. A teacher's residence was built in 1924. As student numbers continued to grow, a new school building on a new site was being considered in 1946, but the opening of a local Catholic primary school reduced the student numbers in the state school and the new building was no longer needed. In the 1970s, a new school building was constructed with the addition of a pre-school. Silkwood was the site of significant Italian immigration in the 1940s. On Sunday 15 December 1940, Roman Catholic Bishop of Cairns, John Heavey, laid the foundation stone for a church to be dedicated to St John the Evangelist. He returned on Sunday 3 August 1941 to perform the blessing and opening of the Gothic-style church. The early priests at the church were Scalabrinians, followed by Augustinian priests. The Silkwood parish was established in 1946.

Geography

Silkwood is situated on the Bruce Highway roughly halfway between Tully and Innisfail. The locality is flat land about 10 metres above sea level and is predominantly freehold land used for farming, particularly the cultivation of sugarcane. The north-western border of the locality is Liverpool Creek, which flows eastward to the Coral Sea. The town is roughly central in the locality with the Bruce Highway passing from south to north just east of the town, while the North Coast railway line also passes from south to north through the town, which is serviced by the Silkwood railway station.

Most-observed species

• Australasian Figbird

  Sphecotheres vieilloti Vigors & Horsfield, 1827 · Aves
  305
• Masked Lapwing

  Vanellus miles (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  278
• Yellow-spotted Honeyeater

  Meliphaga notata (Gould, 1867) · Aves
  250
• Southern Cassowary

  Casuarius casuarius (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  250
• Welcome Swallow

  Hirundo neoxena Gould, 1842 · Aves
  248
• Metallic Starling

  Aplonis metallica (Temminck, 1824) · Aves
  246
• Black Butcherbird

  Melloria quoyi (R.P.Lesson & Garnot, 1827) · Aves
  231
• Spangled Drongo

  Dicrurus bracteatus Gould, 1843 · Aves
  206

Most recent

• M 3.6 — 2011-03-15
  30 km NE of Innisfail Estate, Australia