Pioneer Shire
Pioneer Shire, a coastal municipality which entirely surrounded Mackay city, contained much of the Mackay region's most productive sugar cane farms. It adjoined Sarina Shire to the south and Proserpine Shire to the north. Named after the Pioneer River (itself named after HMS Pioneer which was used for exploration of north Queensland in 1862), the shire (originally a divisional board) was established in 1880. Mackay had been a municipality since 1869.
Further Reading:
John Kerr, Pioneer pageant: a history of the Pioneer Shire, Mackay, Pioneer Shire Council, 1980
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