town and port, northeastern Queensland, Australia, at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on the Coral Sea facing the Great Barrier Reef. The town and nearby Mount Cook (1,415 feet 【431 metres】) are named after the British navigator Captain James Cook, who beached the Endeavour there for repairs in 1770. Cooktown was founded in 1873 during the Palmer River gold rush. Its population reached 30,000, and it was declared a municipality in 1876, but it declined after 1885, when gold production dropped. Some sugar, citrus fruits, livestock, and tin ore are produced in the area. The town has an airfield, and it is linked by the Mulligan Highway to Cairns (120 miles 【190 km】 south), the nearest railhead. Pop. (2006) 2,094.