History The river's original Aboriginal name is Bibhoora. The river gained its current name in 1875 when two police sub-inspectors, Robert Arthur Johnstone and Alexander Douglas-Douglas, named it after Thomas Henry Bowman Barron (circa 1835 – 24 June 1882), chief clerk of police in Brisbane. The European discovery of the river was by James Venture Mulligan in 1874. Barron River gives its name to the electoral district of Barron River, a division of the Queensland Legislative Assembly formed in 1971. Flooding The lower reaches of the Barron River have a well-documented history of flooding dating from early last century. Tinaroo Falls Dams has little effect on the mitigation of floods. Both agricultural and residential areas can be affected. A network of rainfall and river height field stations was established in 1995 to provide a flood warning system for the Cairns City Council. Heavy rain associated with a cyclone early in 1939 caused substantial flooding on the Barron River and resulted in the river changing its course. The mouth of the Barron moved about north from Casuarina Point on the northern Cairns esplanade to Ellie Point. Some of the river's worst flooding occurred in 1950. This was due to a major tropical cyclone following the contour of the Queensland coast for over a week. Fauna The stocking of exotic sports fish into the river has led to a serious decline in the diversity and abundance of native fish. A total of 63 species of fish have been found in the river, including the glassfish, barred grunter, Snub-nosed Garfish, Fly-specked hardyhead, Mouth almighty, Bigeye Trevally, Goby, Jungle Perch, oxeye herring, eastern rainbowfish, Bony bream, Spotted scat, Giant gudgeon, Freshwater Longtom and Seven-spot Archerfish. See also List of rivers of Queensland William Walter Mason Bridge References Rivers of Far North Queensland Cairns, Queensland Bodies of water of the Coral Sea