[16] Popular attractions include "The Strand", a long tropical beach and garden strip; Riverway, a riverfront parkland attraction located on the banks of Ross River; Reef HQ, a large tropical aquarium holding many of the Great Barrier Reef's native flora and fauna; the Museum of Tropical Queensland, built around a display of relics from the sunken British warship HMS Pandora; Castle Hill or as it was originally known Cootharinga, the most prominent landmark of the area and a popular place for exercise; The Townsville Sports Reserve; and Magnetic Island, a large neighbouring island, the vast majority of which is national park.

[20] In 1846, James Morrill was shipwrecked from the Peruvian, living in the Townsville area among the Bindal people for 17 years before deciding to return to British society when the frontier of colonisation came to the region.

The Aboriginal people started to touch and feel all the expedition members and began "smacking their lips", which Dalrymple interpreted as an indication that they wanted to eat them.

They landed again near Cape Pallarenda to obtain surveys from the hilltops but decided to descend to their awaiting dinghies as they noticed residents of three Aboriginal camps below were moving in their direction.

The crew that had remained upon the Spitfire had seen about eight armed Aboriginal men in canoes approaching them from nearby Magnetic Island in an apparent attempt to board the ship.

[20] Ball's party reached the Ross Creek in April 1864 and established a camp below the rocky spur of Melton Hill, near the present Customs House on The Strand.

[20] Edward Kennedy, a Native Police officer accompanying the group, recalled how his "boys" (the Aboriginal troopers) chased four or five local tribesmen into the ocean.

[20] Townsville developed rapidly as the major port and service centre for the Cape River, Gilbert, Ravenswood, Etheridge and Charters Towers goldfields.

[29] Recent research has shown that the many allegations of blackbirding and slave conditions relating to the recruitment and employment of South Sea Islanders in Queensland are baseless, and without foundation in fact or reliable historical evidence.

[20] In 1901 Lord Hopetoun made a goodwill tour of northern Australia and accepted an invitation to officially open Townsville's town hall, occasioning the first ever vice-regal ceremonial unfurling of the Australian national flag.

[35] In 1896, Japan established its first Australian consulate in Townsville, primarily to serve some 4,000 Japanese workers who migrated to work in the sugar cane, turtle, trochus, beche de mer, and pearling industries.

[44] On 25 July 1942 two Japanese Kawanishi Flying Boats dropped 15 bombs which landed near the mouth of the Ross River, only 370 metres (400 yd) east of oil tanks in the harbour.

[46] There were no deaths and structural damage was minimal, as the Japanese missed their intended targets of the railway, the harbour and the airfield and destroyed a palm tree at the Experimental Station of Oonoonba.

[citation needed] The Queensland tour began on Sunday 12 April when the royal yacht Britannia entered Moreton Bay at Caloundra, sailing into Newstead Wharf.

The rare collection item – ‘James Cook University Development: Pimlico to the First Chancellor archival footage, 1960 – 1970’ was one of the Treasures selected for the anniversary year.

The significance of this in terms of Australian common law doctrine was taken note of by one of the attendees, a lawyer, who suggested there should be a test case to claim land rights through the court system.

[60] In 1993, the New South Wales Rugby League announced that a team from Townsville would be admitted to the expanded, nation-wide competition, and the North Queensland Cowboys made their debut in the 1995 ARL season.

[65] Additionally, the Queensland Government announced it will be offering 270 hectares (670 acres) of state-owned land (the former abattoir reserve), just south of the Bohle River, for urban expansion.

Thirty kilometres (19 mi) from the mouth (at the junction of Five Head Creek) is the Ross River Dam, the major water storage for the urban areas.

Townsville is the only city globally to refine three different base metals — zinc, copper, and nickel — and it is planned in the near future to be home to a $2billion lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility developed by the Imperium3 consortium in partnership with Siemens.

[1] The city has traditionally experienced a high turnover of people, with the army base and government services bringing in many short to medium term workers.

[88] The University quickly felt the demand for a face-to-face teaching presence in Townsville and has since opened a purpose built campus in the city offering many on-campus courses including nursing, paramedic science, business and psychology as well as supporting growing numbers of online students.

[93] The mystery of who painted the figure was revealed on the 40th anniversary (2002) to be Graeme Bowen, Lyall Ford, Rodney Froyland, David Greve, Peter Higgins, Barrie Snarski and Robert Sothman.

TheatreiNQ is an independent professional theatre company based in Townsville, presenting four shows a year including the popular annual Shakespeare Under the Stars in Queen Gardens.

Originally they were a part of a botanical garden of 100 acres (40 ha) dedicated to the experimentation and propagation of tropical plants like breadfruit, mahogany, coffee and mangoes.

Townsville has produced a number of members of the Australia national rugby union team (the Wallabies) in the past including Peter Grigg and Sam Scott-Young.

The hospital caters for the city of Townsville, as well as people in the north as far as Thursday Island and Papua New Guinea, west to Mount Isa and south to Sarina.

[137] Container operations are also common and the products of the local nickel and copper refineries, as well as minerals from the western line (Mount Isa), are transported to the port via trains.

The Port of Townsville has bulk handling facilities for importing cement, nickel ore and fuel, and for exporting sugar and products from North Queensland's mines.

[147] The Australian Navy's two Canberra-class landing helicopter dock ships visit Townsville frequently to exercise with the 3rd Brigade and other troops and formations from the area and deploy them when tasked.