Bungalow is a residential suburb 2 km south of central Cairns, separated from the city centre by Parramatta Park. It extends south-west from the showground in Parramatta Park to Chinaman Creek, Woree. Until 1973 Bungalow also extended south-east to the Smiths Creek and Trinity Inlet Wharves. In that year the wharf-side industrial suburb of Portsmith was excised from Bungalow. Hartley Street is their dividing boundary.
Bungalow was named after a plantation established by Archdeacon Joseph Campbell, c1907, chiefly for experimental cotton growing. It was near the Cairns-Mulgrave tramway (1897), which was taken over by Queensland Railways in 1911. The line ran along the north-west side of Spence Street, and the Bungalow station and post office were a block south of today's post office at the corner of Scott and Aumuller Streets. Further south-west towards Smiths Creek there were mudflats, gradually built up by landfill and dredged material from the harbour, a process begun in the 1910s. Smiths Landing was at the mouth of Smiths Creek, and wharves lined the west side of the creek along with Cairns Pineapple Cannery (demolished 1985). The empty space between there and Chinaman Creek was used for a rifle range.
Portsmith (1973) was named after William (Bill) Smith, pioneer and promoter of a track from Cairns to the Tablelands. As the landfill reclamation work was completed various industrial uses replaced the rifle range. The railway was also re-aligned south-west from Spence Street to near the alternative route for the Bruce Highway which was moved from Mulgrave Road. Enlargement of the Smiths Creek wharf facilities began with a bulk sugar terminal (1964), the storage sheds facing the historic Smiths Landing, and the loading wharf in Trinity Inlet just beyond the mouth of the creek. Along the creek there are wharves for seafood industries, freezer facilities and the Water Police.
The Cairns City Council offices (1998) are at the corner of Spence and Draper Streets, in the north-west of Portsmith.
Bungalow's and Portsmith's census populations were:
| census date | population | |
|---|---|---|
| Bungalow | Portsmith | |
| 2006 | 2147 | 167 |
| 2011 | 2165 | 229 |
Peter Ryle, By air and sea: Cairns Port Authority, the first 100 years, Cairns Port Authority, 2006
