Slade Point

Slade Point is a coastal town and peninsular suburb of Mackay in the Mackay Region, Queensland, Australia.

Slade Point is a coastal town and peninsular suburb of Mackay in the Mackay Region, Queensland, Australia.

The first British people to visit the area were the crew and passengers aboard the ketch Presto which pulled into the bay at Slade Point in June 1862 after having difficulty entering the Pioneer River. A passenger named Roberts was surrounded by some of the resident Aboriginal population and taken away. Armed crew-members formed a search party but were unable to locate him. Another larger search party, assisted by troopers of the Native Police, was later organised but no trace of Roberts was found.Originally, the town was called Amhurst but it was renamed on 1 January 1967 to be Slade Point, named after the prominent headland of the same name which was named in June 1770 by Lieutenant James Cook of HMS Endeavour, after Thomas Slade, Surveyor of the Royal Navy and designer of Horatio Nelson's ship HMS Victory.Amhurst State School opened on 11 April 1939. It was renamed Slade Point State School in 1967.