Douglas, a residential and university suburb, is 10 km south-west of central Townsville.
Although one authority asserts that the suburb was named after Queensland premier, John Douglas (1877-79), the more likely explanation is that it was named after Robert Johnstone Douglas (1883-72). Robert Douglas was a judge of the Queensland Supreme Court (1923-53), and practised in Townsville from 1907.
Douglas' northern boundary is the Ross River. When work began in 1966 for the University College of Townsville (James Cook University) the site was in an area known as Ross River Plains. Four years later when the university was opened the area was known as Douglas, laid out with a residential reservation separating the university from the river. The residential reservation was to be a planned suburb, facilitated by an act of parliament (1993) conferring concept and regulatory powers on the Townsville City Council. Douglas' layout includes several linear parks which intersect with a riverside park running nearly the full length of the suburb. Houses are uniformly modern, mainly in a higher price range for Townsville.
The Townsville Hospital (2001), a public tertiary referral hospital, is located in Douglas and co-located with James Cook University. Further redevelopments opened in 2011.
Douglas' census populations have been:
Census Date | Population |
---|---|
1986 | 1573 |
1996 | 2097 |
2001 | 3285 |
2006 | 5993 |
2011 | 7184 |