The town of Mossman lies inland from Port Douglas, on the flood-plain of the Mossman River between the Great Dividing Range and the coast, about north of Cairns. Port Douglas was established in 1877 as an alternative to Cairns as a service port to the Hodgkinson goldfield, which had been proclaimed on 15 June 1876. With the construction of the Cairns-Kuranda railway line in 1882-1891, Port Douglas gradually declined as a town and port. The Mossman district, although initially taken up as homestead selections supplying fodder, maize and tropical fruits to the goldfields, converted to sugar-growing in the 1890s and prospered in the early twentieth century. During these formative years, the region was part of the Douglas Divisional Board (established in 1880) but was replaced by Douglas Shire Council on 30 March 1903 after the Local Authorities Act 1902 abolished divisional boards.