QLDPort & river
Cleveland
Planned as Moreton Bay’s port, it became a bayside town instead.
1850Township proclaimed
WHAT STARTED IT
Cleveland Point was close to the southern passage into Moreton Bay and free of the sand bars at the Brisbane River mouth, so it was surveyed as a seaport township. A wreck at the southern entrance and the burning of a wool ship off Cleveland Point in 1854 ended those hopes.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
A sawmill and farms kept the small town going, and the railway from Brisbane opened on 1 November 1889. The Redlands around it became a major fruit and vegetable district.
TURNING POINTS
1850Cleveland is proclaimed a township; the first town lots are sold in 1851.
1864The Cleveland Point light is built.
1889The railway from Brisbane opens on 1 November.
1960The rail service closes for lack of demand; it reopens in 1987.
1980sWork begins on the Raby Bay canal estate.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
The main town of Redland City and a departure point for boats to the Moreton Bay islands. The old lighthouse at Cleveland Point recalls the port that never was.