HISTORY OF COOKTOWN We are proud to be the place of the first recorded act of reconciliation - a meeting between Captain James Cook, his crew and the local indigenous residents on the banks of the Endeavour River in 1770. For over 48 days, it was the most significant exchange of culture, language and science in early Australian history. A century later, Cook’s Town was built on the banks of the river where that historic meeting took place. A bustling new port and community grew from a ramshackle tent city to service the mining camps of Queensland’s largest gold rush on the Palmer River. The gold soon disappeared, but Cooktown hung on, surviving economic decline and two devastating cyclones. Today Cooktown has a population of 2,300 and the town is growing again as word spreads of its beautiful location and the friendliness of its people. With the completion of the Mulligan Highway in 2006, the town is now easily accessible by a fully sealed road and air, yet its remote location, stunning landscapes and laidback lifestyle give it a distinctly frontier feel - the very essence of Australia! Cooktown & Cape York Expo 2021 is a reflection and celebration of a positive shared history, which manifests here today with our multicultural population uniting in harmonious societal, economic, technological and cultural evolution.
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