The Woothakata Division, based in the mining town of Thornborough on the Hodgkinson goldfield, was created on 11 November 1879 as one of 74 divisions around Queensland under the Divisional Boards Act 1879 with a population of 1836.^[2] Woothakata is a Wakaman and Kuku Djungan Aboriginal word which describes the way (the journey) they travelled to Ngarrabullgan/Mount Mulligan, an important meeting place. The name Woothakata lives on as the name of a property at Chillagoe.

On 3 September 1881, the Tinaroo Division was created under the Divisional Boards Act 1879 out of parts of the Cairns, Hinchinbrook and Woothakata Divisions.^[3]

On 18 May 1889, the tin-mining area at Stannary Hills and Irvinebank and its hinterland in and around the Walsh River (an area of 4110 sq miles) were severed from Woothakata Division to create Walsh Division.^[4][5]

On 20 December 1890, part of the Tinaroo Division was excised to create the new Barron Division, closer to Cairns.^[6]

With the passage of the Local Authorities Act 1902, the Divisions of Woothakata, Tinaroo and Barron became Shires of Woothaka, Tinaroo and Barron on 31 March 1903.

On 16 December 1908, a small part of Shire of Woothakata was transferred to the Shire of Walsh, which was then split with one part being proclaimed the new Shire of Chillagoe, based at Chillagoe.^[7][8]

In 1919, Woothakata's seat of administration moved to Mareeba. Thornborough had declined steadily in importance, having a population of 58 in 1921 and 29 in 1933. The same year, on 20 December, the Shire of Barron was abolished, with its area being split between the Shire of Mulgrave and Shire of Woothakata.

On 25 June 1932, the Shires of Walsh and Chillagoe merged into the Shire of Woothakata, which was then organised into six divisions, of which the former Shires of Chillagoe and Walsh formed the greater part of the sixth division. Division 3 had 2 representatives and all the other divisions had only one representative.^[9][10]

On 20 December 1947, the Shire of Woothakata was renamed the Shire of Mareeba.^[5][11][12]

A new Mareeba Shire Hall was built in Mareeba in 1961; it was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 11 October 2013.^[13]

On 22 March 1995, parts of the Shires of Mareeba and Douglas and the whole of the abolished Shire of Mulgrave were added to the City of Cairns.^[14]

On 15 March 2008, under the Local Government (Reform Implementation) Act 2007 passed by the Parliament of Queensland on 10 August 2007, the Shire of Mareeba merged with the Shires of Atherton, Eacham and Herberton to form the Tablelands Region.

In 2012, a proposal was made to de-amalgamate the Shire of Mareeba from the Tablelands Region.^[15] On 9 March 2013, the citizens of the former Mareeba shire voted in a referendum to de-amalgamate.^[16] The shire was re-established on 1 January 2014.^[17][18]

The Shire of Mareeba includes the following settlements:

Note:

• Prior to 1996, the Shire of Mareeba also included the localities of Barron Gorge, Lamb Range and Redlynch to the west of Cairns. These were incorporated into the City of Cairns.

Mareeba Shire Council operate public libraries at Chillagoe, Dimbulah, Kuranda and Mareeba.^[19]

In early years the elected councillors chose one among them to the chairman on an annual basis. The following are the chairmen of the Woothakata Division and Shire of Woothakata:

• 1890–1907: George Jonathan Evenden^[20]
• 1920: James Harris^[21]

From 1921, chairmen of shires were elected by the voters for a period of 3 years.

• August 1921– : Ernest Albert Atherton^[22]
• 1927, 1929, 1931: George Henry O'Donnell^[23][24][25]

The following are the chairmen in the first incarnation of Shire of Mareeba:

• 1933–1935, –December 1939: William Gardner^{[26][27][28][29]}
• December 1939– : J. M. Brown^[29]
• 1950: J. M. Brown^[30]
• 1973–1976: Martin Tenni, Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Barron River^[31]

The following are the mayors in the current incarnation of Shire of Mareeba:

• 2014–2020: Tom Gilmore, former Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Tablelands^{[32][33][34][35]}
• 2020–present : Angela Toppin^[36][37][38]

• "Woothakata Shire". Queensland Places. Centre for the Government of Queensland, University of Queensland.
• "Mareeba Shire". Queensland Places. Centre for the Government of Queensland, University of Queensland.

16°59′S 145°01′E / 16.98°S 145.02°E / -16.98; 145.02