The Tablelands railway line enters the locality from the north (Biboohra), passes through the town, and exits to the west (Chewko).

[7] The locality is served by the following railway stations (from north to south): The Lotus Glen Correctional Centre is located in Arriga, 14 km; 9 miles outside Mareeba.

In the local Aboriginal language, Mareeba means meeting of the waters - referring to the point at which the Barron River is joined by Granite Creek.

The Mareeba area was first settled by Europeans in 1877 by John Atherton, who arrived with cattle at Emerald End, which is just north of the town today.

Mareeba quickly became a busy coach stop for Cobb & Co on the road from Port Douglas to Herberton.

[15][16] From 1942 to 1945 during World War II, up to 10,000 Australian and US service personnel used Mareeba Airfield as a staging post for battles in New Guinea and the South West Pacific theatre.

The sale of the land was to fund the establishment of the Agri-Science Hub at Peters Street in Mareeba.

James Cook University is a partner of the hub, researching tropical agriculture, aquaculture and biosecurity.

Mareeba includes the largest Italian Australian community of any suburb in Queensland, numbering 1,608 individuals and making up 10.8% of the town's population.

[6] Mareeba has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: Mareeba has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen: Aw), with a short, hot wet season from December to March and a lengthy, warm dry season from April to November.

Due to its elevation, average minima are lowered: ranging from 14.0 °C (57.2 °F) in August to 21.5 °C (70.7 °F) in January to February.

In addition, due to being in a rain shadow, average annual rainfall is only 875.9 mm (34.48 in).

[36][37] Temperature, rainfall and 3 pm conditions were taken from the new Mareeba Airport weather station, which opened in 2000.

In addition, sun data was taken from Walkamin Research Station, 7.1 km south of the town.

Numerous crops are grown throughout Mareeba Shire, including avocados, mangoes, lychees, longans, sugar cane, cashews, macadamias, bananas, pineapples, tea tree oil, coffee, cotton and a variety of vegetables and tropical fruits.

[52] The Cairns Aerial Outpost branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association meets at 15 Wilson Street.

St Stephen's College at Lot 3 McIver Road also has a Catholic church.

[54] The FNQ Country Music Festival and Talent Search is held annually at Kerribee Park Rodeo Grounds.

[13] Each year, on the second Sunday of September, St Thomas's Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of the Chain.