Clifton Beach
Located on the Captain Cook Highway, around 20 kilometres northwest of Cairns, in Djabugay Country, between Kewarra Beach and Palm Cove, Clifton Beach takes its name from one of the early female residents' birthplace — possibly Scots-born Mary Hunter Smart; possibly canegrower William Fairweather's wife, who was born on the Darling Downs, or quite possibly both. Mary Hunter Smart was born in Clifton, Scotland, in 1889 and died in Cairns in 1947; Fairweather's decision to allow an access road through his farm opened the area to development in the years after World War II. Either way, Clifton Beach did not officially exist as a suburb until May 1959 and did not acquire a post office for another decade. Housing subdivisions began in the 1970s.
