Paluma is a township of around 28 permanent residents in the Mount Spec ranges and is the southernmost point of Townsville's heritage-listed Wet Tropics. Paluma developed from a mining and forestry background. The first people to arrive here were tin prospectors in the 1870s after an abundance of tin in the mountains. The area remained isolated until a road was built up the range in the 1930s. This industry lasted for years until landowners worked together to shut it down.