Demographics

Description

Smithfield is a suburb about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) to the north of Cairns City, Queensland, Australia. At the 2011 Australian Census the suburb recorded a population of 3,707. The Captain Cook Highway passes through Smithfield. Smithfield was first established in 1876, and was a rival for dominance of the area to Cairns at that time. However, after a devastating flooding of the Barron River on which the settlement was situated during a cyclone, the original site was abandoned. Smithfield is now a suburb of Cairns, and is the business and trade centre of the Cairns 'Northern Beaches'. In the suburb's south is the lower station of the Kuranda Scenic Railway.