On the 30th June, 1770 Lieutenant James
Cook, Royal Navy wrote in his Diary - "and went myself upon a
hill which lies over the south point to take a view of the sea........As this time it was low water, and I saw, with great concern, innumerable sand bank and shoals lying all along the coast in every direction"
Twelve day prior to this at 1pm on the 18th June 1770, the H.M.Bark Endeavour floated into the harbour and was moored alongside a steep beach.
Cook and his crew of 86 men, as
well as their livestock of sheep, pigs, dogs, ducks, hens and the ships goat reached the safety of the shore.
Today Grassy
Hill is one of
Cooktown's premier tourist attractions for both locals and tourists alike. Grassy
Hill is so known because local aboriginals deliberately burnt the forest on the
hill to encourage regrowth of vegetation and draw animals into the area for hunting. By 1886 the
Lighthouse was in use and remain an manned
lighthouse until it was automated in 1927.
During Word War 11 from early February 1942 until February 1945, Grassy
Hill was also an important Radar Station manned by the 56 Radar Unit of the RAAF.
In 1987 the Government was decommissioning the
Lighthouse and residents of
Cooktown were so concerned about saving the historical facility of the
lighthouse that they had great media attention, that the
Lighthouse was sold to the
Cooktown people for $100 in 1988.