Cape Cleveland
Located east-northeast of Townsville, in Bindal country, separating Cleveland Bay from Bowling Green Bay, the mountainous Cape Cleveland is separated from the nearby Mount Elliot massif by saltpans near the former Clevedon railway siding.
Much of the locality lies within the Bowling Green Bay National Park and Bowling Green Bay Conservation Park, which also cover Mount Elliot, Cromarty, Giru, and beyond. On the cape's eastern side, a 207.4-hectare land parcel around Cape Ferguson at the end of Cape Cleveland Road is the headquarters of the Australian Institute of Marine Science.
James Cook initially named the cape Iron Head when he passed the area in June 1770, but subsequently replaced the name when he revised his journal. Although he gave no reason for the change or the new name's origin, it is possible Cook named the headland after John Clevland, a former Admiralty Secretary.
The Cape Cleveland Lightstation, built in 1879, was the first navigation facility built to guide vessels into Cleveland Bay and the port of Townsville.
