QLDPlanned settlement
Burleigh Heads
A surveyed seaside town that waited decades for its visitors.
1872Town lots offered for sale
WHAT STARTED IT
Big Burleigh headland and the mouth of Tallebudgera Creek offered surf, fishing and oysters to the few holidaymakers of the 1870s. The government surveyed a town here and offered 65 suburban lots on and near the creek in 1872.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
Growth was slow: in 1885 a visitor found only one small accommodation house, and the coaching hotel closed when the railway reached Tweed Heads in 1903. Christmas campers crowded the foreshore by 1912, and housing estates sold from 1915 turned the camping ground into a beach town.
TURNING POINTS
1872The Brisbane Courier advertises 65 suburban lots in the town of Burleigh, on and near Tallebudgera Creek.
1882A hotel opens as a coaching stop between Southport and Tweed Heads.
1903The railway reaches Tweed Heads, stopping at West Burleigh, and the coaching hotel closes.
1912Between 70 and 100 tents fill the flat opposite the beach at Christmas.
1947Burleigh Headland is gazetted as a national park.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A Gold Coast beach suburb of about 10,600 people, known for its surf break and headland national park. Apartment towers now rise behind the old camping foreshore.