These isolation areas became known as quarantine stations, from the Latin words for forty days after which time patients, if they were not dead were considered clear of disease.

[1] Quarantine in the northern part of Australia began when the Moreton Bay District of New South Wales (later part of Queensland), established a quarantine station at Dunwich on Stradbroke Island in July 1849 after deaths were recorded on a ship arriving at Moreton Bay in January 1849.

[1] This growth of population and the development of Australia as a sea trading nation made it obvious that there was a need to control the introduction and spread of infectious diseases.

In general, legislation established Central Boards of Health to enforce notification of infectious diseases and to provide guidelines for quarantining suspected cases.

[1] Townsville, the first or second port of call for shipping on the Asia/Pacific route, was identified as a place where suspected cases of ship-born disease could be detained.

Tents were set up at Picnic Bay, with passengers cared for by the Butler family, who had recently established pineapple plantations on the Island.

Reviewing the proposal, the Director General of Works under the direction of the Minister for Home Affairs, decided the project should be carried out as an Employment Enhancement Scheme.

This weir never held water and in 1925 a second, small concrete dam was constructed on the slope of Many Peaks Range at the rear of the Station.

There was a good deal of activity, particularly during the flu epidemic of 1919 and the bubonic plague pandemic of the early part of the twentieth century.

The Hospital and Observation Block, built of material from the West Point site, were damaged during Cyclone Althea in December 1971 and demolished to make way for the new building.

and was staffed by a doctor and several nurses, a cook, quartermaster, storeman, transport NCO and drivers for a period of time in the early 1970s.

[2] The construction of the Melbourne Contagious Disease Hospital marked the end of the Pallarenda facility as a place of quarantine.

Planning to locate the recently established Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) into the complex began early in 1974.

However, after AIMS and GRBRMPA moved out, the complex remained empty until 1 February 1986 when the area was gazetted as an Environmental Park.

[1] The grounds of the former quarantine station were planted with native vegetation and the former Administration building occupied by the Marine Parks Section of the Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage.

[1] There are sixteen timber buildings within the heritage register boundary, some of which were constructed at West Point and later moved and re-assembled at Cape Pallarenda.

Another building from the West Point Quarantine Station site is the former Dining Room which was built as the single women's quarters.

[1] The former administration block dates from 1915, and has a long east west axis comprising a core of offices arranged around a central hall with verandahs surrounding the building, measuring 2.7 metres (8 ft 10 in) in width.

[1] The World War II fortifications are located on the lower slopes of Mount Marlow, to the north west of the former quarantine station buildings at Pallarenda.

There are five structures still surviving as well as concrete slabs in the accommodation area, drainage systems along the paths and a substantial piece of curbing and guttering along the track to the gun emplacements.

Other visible evidence includes a large hole in rock with a remnant camouflage frame over it, a levelled area below the command post which is surrounded by a stone pitched wall and steps.

[1] The command post is a concrete building which comprises two rooms, one above the other, with observation slits cut at head height round three sides of the structure.

[1] On the bank of a creek which runs beside the quarantine station is a concrete weir which was apparently built to supply water.

[1] The former Cape Pallarenda Quarantine Station was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 23 April 1999 having satisfied the following criteria.

The site demonstrates government and community attempts to eradicate and treat tropical disease and effect racial segregation at the turn of the century.