Palmerville
The first and westernmost settlement in the initial rush to the Palmer River, Palmerville was located near where William Hann's party discovered gold on 6 August 1872. James Venture Mulligan's party confirmed the discovery the following year.
The settlement was initially named Palmerston when the Gold Field Warden, Land Commissioner, and Police Magistrate's offices were established, but as the rush moved upriver, Maytown eclipsed Palmerville as the field's administrative centre. The telegraph line from Georgetown reached the shrinking settlement in 1876 and a post office survived from the rush's early days to 1965, but its heyday was short. From an initial population in the thousands, the 1881 census recorded 731 residents. Two years later, there were two hotels, two stores and about fifty Chinese miners.
The 1903 Australian Handbook described the locality as 'nearly deserted' but noted 'a wide area of good agricultural land in the district.'
Sources:
Australian Handbook 1903 (Trove: https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3072164004/view?sectionId=nla.obj-3078730003&partId=nla.obj-3072260911#page/n679/mode/1up
Colin Hooper, Angor to Zillmanton: stories of North Queensland's deserted towns,
Queensland Places (Palmer River: https://www.queenslandplaces.com.au/palmer-river)
