Less than 60 years ago, the state government tried to wipe the town off the map after deciding that the old Presbyterian mission populated by members of the Stolen Generation was no longer viable.

The night of November 15, 1963, when police marched in and evicted locals from their houses before setting them alight, is now remembered simply as The Burning.

Local artist Daphne de Jersey said Mapoon was depopulated and razed because the government was trying to clear the area for bauxite mining.

"They had mission gardens, they even grew silverbeet, a delicate leafy vegetable, corn, they grew a whole range of vegetables," she told AAP.

"So it wasn't unfit for human habitation, it was because people are greedy.

"What was in the ground had more value than the people who were connected to this country."

Many evictees and their descendants refused to stay in New Mapoon, Hidden Valley and other towns where they were dumped and started returning to Mapoon.

De Jersey says when she came to Mapoon there were only a few basic buildings, no road in, no electricity and no running water.

"I wanted to return here because everything was taken from us (the Stolen Generation descendants) - we don't know where we're from, we don't know who we belong to," she said.

"Our strongest connection is here, so this is where I wanted to come, raise my children and I'm glad that I did."

The population has grown to 430 in Mapoon, which straddles a sandy, mangrove-lined peninsula between Port Musgrave and the Gulf of Carpentaria.

It has its own water treatment plant, power station, general store, healthcare centre, primary school, a new church, and a new cultural centre will soon open.

But jobs remain scarce outside the public service and Mapoon Aboriginal Shire Council relies on government funding.

However, it's hoped that developing tourism could help it deal with both those issues.

The nearby mining town of Weipa estimates about 40,000 visitors arrive there annually, with many visitors making day trips to Mapoon.

Most daytrippers visit the monument to the first contact between Aboriginal people and Europeans in 1606 and enjoy a burger at the popular local takeaway shop.

Mapoon's mid-winter temperatures can reach 30C, but the local crocodile population deters any swimmers.

But the main tourist draw card is still in the water: fishing.

Western Cape locals reckon Mapoon's Cullen Point is one of the best places to drop a line in Australia.

"You can almost catch mackerel right off the beach up there," Weipa Town Authority chair Michael Rowland says.

Mapoon council's executive manager of parks, Kelli Leatham, has caught the species, usually found in the open ocean, at Cullen Point.

"There's not many places you can come and catch such a variety of fish just off the beach, let alone go out in the boat," she said.

"You know, you've got three different rivers this side, and then you go straight out of the port here (in a boat) and go 25kms, and catch reef fish, one after the other."

The council is trying to work out how to acquaint visitors with other natural wonders, such as sea turtles and shore birds.

It recently opened a self-contained visitor lodge in town, but there's still nowhere to go out for dinner and Mapoon's tiny supermarket closes at 5.30pm.

Whether the town is ready or not, visitor numbers are likely to rise when the state government seals the last 200km of the Peninsula Development Road from Cooktown to Weipa in the next few years.

After a visit in February, Tourism Queensland officials advised the council it needed more infrastructure and services.

The council discussed the "fairly timely" need for a boat for turtle tourism and fishing trips, and an upgrade of Cullen Point Campground so "campers have an attractive place to stay".

It has also spoken about upgrading the mission site and building a turtle centre for visitors, modelled on the popular Mon Repos Turtle Centre near Bundaberg.

However, a lack of funding means the council is unable to quickly or easily act on many of its ideas.

Mapoon's remote location hinders its best-laid plans as well. The new cultural centre hasn't found a chef for its cafe, despite the council advertising the role for months.

De Jersey also thinks the council missed a golden opportunity to give Mapoon locals a creative outlet, and potentially boost tourism, by not adding a large art studio in the new centre.

"Not pointing fingers, but certain people just don't see the benefit of practising art," she said.

"They can't see it because they're not practising it, so to them it's not important."

The local Wei' Num Arts collective rents a studio in Cairns, which is 600km away as the crow flies, for about $3000 a month.

Their stunning paintings, prints, ceramics and carvings, which fuse traditional and contemporary styles, have been exhibited at the Cairns Indigenous Arts Fair, Australia's most prestigious Indigenous art exhibition.

But most tourists arriving in Mapoon would be none-the-wiser about the nascent art movement in town.

Just like Mapoon's population, many members are of mixed descent, meaning Wei' Num Arts can't access government funding for infrastructure.

De Jersey says Mapoon may be the only Indigenous community in the Western Cape without its own arts studio.

"Come to my place, that's my that's my arts centre, I've got stuff everywhere," she laughs.

"And that's unfortunate that's how it is."

This AAP article was made possible by support from the Meta Australian News Fund and The Walkley Foundation.

Australian Associated Press