QLDFarming
Buderim
Red volcanic soil turned a cedar mountain into a ginger town.
1869Township surveyed on the mountain
WHAT STARTED IT
Buderim sits on a plateau of rich red volcanic soil rising to just under 200 metres, first valued for its stands of cedar and beech. Once the timber was cleared, the soil suited almost any crop, from sugarcane and coffee to the ginger that made Buderim famous.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
A tramway to Palmwoods on the North Coast railway carried produce to market from 1914 to 1935, and a ginger factory opened in 1942. From the mid-1960s subdivisions turned a farming town of under 1,000 people into a large residential area.
TURNING POINTS
1862Tom Petrie, exploring for timber for William Pettigrew, sights Buderim Mountain; cedar and beech cutting follows.
1869Government surveyor William Fryar surveys Buderim into selections.
1876The first sugar mill on the mountain opens.
1914The tramway to Palmwoods on the North Coast railway begins carrying goods; it is officially opened in June 1915.
1942The first ginger processing factory is completed.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A large hillside residential area overlooking the southern Sunshine Coast. A fragment of the original rainforest survives in Buderim Forest Park.