Whitfield is a suburb of Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Whitfield had a population of 4,262 people.
Geography Whitfield has the following mountains:
Lumley Hill Mount Whitfield
The southern portion of Whitfield is developed as residential land rising from sea level to about 50m up the slopes of Mount Whitfield. The northern part of the suburb is undeveloped bushland within the Mount Whitfield Conservation Park, which occupies the upper slopes of Mount Whitfield which rises to 350m.
History Whitfield is situated in the Yidinji traditional Aboriginal country.
It was named by the Queensland Place Names Board on 1 September 1973 as a locality after Mount Whitfield, which was named by the explorer, public servant and politician George Elphinstone Dalrymple on 17 October 1873 after Edwin Whitfield, a storekeeper and merchant from Cardwell. After an adjustment of the boundaries in 2001 it was elevated to a suburb by 7 June 2002.Queensland place names search, Queensland Government (per 10 May 2026)
Whitfield State School opened on 23 January 1989.
Demographics In the , Whitfield had a population of 4,176 people. In the , Whitfield had a population of 4,275 people. In the , Whitfield had a population of 4,262 people.
Heritage listings
Whitfield has heritage listings including: Oribin Studio, 16 Heavey Crescent
Education
Whitfield State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 42-74 McManus Street. In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 831 students with 64 teachers (60 full-time equivalent) and 38 non-teaching staff (25 full-time equivalent). It includes a special education program.
There are no secondary schools in Whitfield. The nearest government secondary schools are Trinity Bay State High School in Manunda to the south-east and Cairns State High School in Cairns North to the east.
Amenities Whitfield has no centre as such. There are three shops at the roundabout at Woodward Street corner Heavey Crescent. There is a building looking like a church in not far from there in Heavey Street called Whitfield Chapel, or just The Chapel. It was created in 1996 as wedding venue for Japanese tourists. After it served for many years as office for real estate agencies it was returned to its function as wedding venue in 2025.Catherine Duffy: From crunching numbers to saying ‘I do,’ Far North couple re-open Japanese wedding venue, Cairnsw Post, 19 November 2025
There are a number of parks in the area:
Colin Penridge Park Murchison Street Park Ross Allen Park
Gallery
References
External links