Yorkeys Knob is a coastal suburb of Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Yorkeys Knob had a population of 2,759 people.
Geography
The suburb is approximately north of the centre of Cairns, and is the third beach suburb after Machans Beach and Holloways Beach.
Yorkeys Knob is a coastal suburb with predominantly low-lying land (less than 10 metres above sea level) with the exception of the hill (known as Yorkeys Knob) rising to 60 metres on the coast at Yorkeys Point. The northern part of the suburb near the coast is residential, but the majority of the land use is rural, mainly used for growing sugarcane. There is a long, sandy beach along the Coral Sea.
The Finfish Group operate a 17 hectare pond farm (called Ponderosa) which is capable of producing 350 tonnes of fish per annum. They principally raise giant grouper fish as they are fast growing with a high commercial value.
The suburb is bounded by the Coral Sea to the north, Thomatis Creek to the east, Captain Cook Highway to the south, and Half Moon Creek to the north-west.
History
Yorkeys Knob is situated in the Djabugay (Tjapukai) traditional Aboriginal country.
Yorkeys Knob got its name from George Lawson, a Yorkshire-born, Cairns-based beche-de-mer fisherman. (From the nickname Yorkey, and the Hill being the "Knob".)
On 10 June 1886, Yorkey Lawson reported the loss of a man and his wife from Green Island. They had left to visit the wreck of the Upolu, intending to return the same day. Lawson made a search for them, but was unable to find any trace of them, not even an accident. The pilot cutter was sent to search for the couple.
Lawson built a homestead adjoining the Mount Buchan estate near what is now Yorkeys Knob. During the off-fishing season he and his sons farmed pumpkins, sweet potatoes and paddy melons, but not successfully. Whatever the bandicoots and pigs didn't eat, the crocodiles did. Lawson used the mangroves near his homestead for the firewood and water needed for his beche-de-mer smoking station on Green Island.
Yorkey's Knob State School opened on 18 February 1957. It originally occupied a site on corner of Wattle Street and Cunningham Street (). The school relocated to its current site in 1980 and the former site was given to the Musgrave Shire Council (now Cairns Regional Council) to become a community centre (known officially since 1996 as Old School Park). The SES occupied the former schoolhouse while the former teacher's residence was used to house a caretaker. A new community centre was built on the site of the school's old tennis courts. The park and its facilities were managed the Yorkeys Knob Activities Group until August 2021, when the Cairns Regional Council took control.
Locals are attached to the name, despite the reaction it sometimes gets ("knob" being a slang term for penis), and successfully prevented a developer from advertising a development as being at "Yorkeys Beach".
At the , the population of Yorkeys Knob was 2,766.
In the , Yorkeys Knob had a population of 2,759 people.
Heritage listings
Yorkeys Knob has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: 40 Buckley Street (): Second Innisfail Court House, relocated to Yorkeys Knob as a private residence
Education
Yorkeys Knob State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 26-38 Clinton Street (). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 252 students with 19 teachers (16 full-time equivalent) and 13 non-teaching staff (8 full-time equivalent).
There are no secondary schools in Yorkeys Knob. The nearest government secondary school is the Tropical North Learning Academy (formerly Smithfield State High School) in neighbouring Smithfield to the west.
Facilities
Yorkeys Knob SES Facility is in the former schoolhouse at Old School Park at 58-64 Wattle Street ().
Amenities
Yorkeys Knob has a supermarket, post office, bottleshop, bakery, and a variety of other shops. A newsagent and a small store are on the beachfront, near the main swimming area.
Half Moon Bay Marina is a marina (). At the marina are the Yorkeys Knob Boating Club (). There is a public boat ramp at the marina (); it is managed by the Cairns Regional Council.
Yorkeys Knob has three restaurants. One at the Half Moon Bay marina has an over-the-water deck looking across Half Moon Bay to Double Island and Haycock Island (also known as Scout's Hat due to its shape).