Innisfail Estate is bounded by the Johnstone River to the east, south and west. It is flat low-lying land, below 10 metres (33 ft) above sea level. It is connected to Innisfail to the west across the river by the Geraldton Bridge (Geraldton being the former name of Innisfail).[3]
The south-western part of the locality near the bridge is suburban. The east of the locality is undeveloped wetlands. The remainder of the locality is used for agriculture, predominantly growing sugarcane.[3]
In 1879 Thomas Henry Fitzgerald came to North Queensland looking for locations suitable to grow sugarcane. He was impressed by the potential of the Johnstone River district. Returning to Brisbane he established a company Fitzgerald & Co with the assistance of Roman Catholic Bishop of BrisbaneJames O'Quinn. On 23 April 1880 he returns to the area and establishes the first sugarcane plantation (called Innisfail Estate) with its own sugar mill. The mill closed in 1885 but by then there were a number of other mills in the Johnstone River district.[5]
Innisfail State High School opened on 24 January 1955 and operated until the end of 2009 at 2 Stitt Street in Mighell.[7] In 2010, it was amalgamated with the Innisfail Inclusive Education Centre (aspecial education facility) and Tropical North Queensland TAFE (Innisfail Campus) to form Innisfail State College using the site of the TAFE campus at Innisfail Estate.[8][9][10]
Innisfail State College is a government primary and secondary (Early Childhood-12) school for boys and girls at 45 Flying Fish Point Road (17°30′57″S146°02′13″E / 17.5159°S 146.0369°E / -17.5159; 146.0369 (Innisfail State College)).[12][13] In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 856 students with 85 teachers (81 full-time equivalent) and 57 non-teaching staff (43 full-time equivalent).[14] It includes an early childhood developmental program,[12] a diverse learning centre,[15] and a special education program.[16]
Although the college provides special education for primary school children, there is no mainstream primary school in Innisfail Estate. The nearest government primary school is Innisfail State School in Innisfail across the river to the west. Catholic primary and secondary schools are also in Innisfail.[3]
^"SUGAR GROWING AT INNISFAIL". The Telegraph. Queensland, Australia. 25 April 1934. p. 13 (MEMORIAL ISSUE). Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
