The town was originally established to service the interests of the mining of gold, tin, copper silver and lead discovered in the district and of pastoral leases granted in the 1860s.

The rail, built to transport ore to the Chillagoe smelters early last century, ends here, and now operates once weekly as the Savannah Lander bringing tourists from Cairns.

The Forsayth community, now numbering around just 90 people, celebrated the centenary of the township over the weekend of June 5-7.

Many who had left the district over the years returned to relive and remember the history of the township.

Friday night saw a meet-and-great hoe-down at the Goldfields Hotel.

Music supplied by John Hardy had the crowd, many of them tourists, bopping, setting the tone for a weekend of celebration.

A book to celebrate to occasion, Where The Old Delaney Flows, written by Peter Ryle, was launched during the events on Saturday, and that night saw over 100 people attend the official ball.

Keeping with a tradition long past, a supper of corned beef and spuds was served up during the ball.

Forsayth's new tennis court was officially opened on the Sunday morning with Forsayth identity since 1938 and somewhat of a legend in the district, Cynthia Haigh, having the honour of hitting the first ball on the new court to Etheridge Shire councillor, Noelene Gross.

Comments from the crowd on the "blistering" serve she delivered were generally that the standard of tennis in Forsayth can only improve from here.

There was no such comment about the Sunday's local talent night at the hotel, where many local artists including Simon Terry, Rodney and Peter Flannigan, and Andrew and Cameron Barnes came down from the hills and brought the night to life.

An organiser of the weekender, Helen Pezzotti, said she was surprised how many older residents from days gone by attended the festivities.

"Old ex-residents of the district turned up from all parts of the country which made it a really special weekend," she said.

*More pictures in this week’s North Queensland Register, out Thursday.