QLDPlanned settlement
Coolangatta
A border town named after a shipwreck on its beach.
1883Border township surveyed
WHAT STARTED IT
The township was surveyed in 1883 on the Queensland side of the border, sheltered behind the Point Danger headland near the Tweed River mouth. It took its name from the brigantine Coolangatta, driven ashore nearby in a gale in 1846 as it tried to enter the Tweed River.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
Little happened until the railway arrived from Nerang in 1903, when hotels, guesthouses and surf clubs followed visitors to the sheltered Kirra and Greenmount beaches. It became its own town in 1914 and merged with Southport in 1949.
TURNING POINTS
1883The Coolangatta township is surveyed; in 1884 surveyor Henry Schneider is sent back to enlarge it.
1903The South Coast railway is extended from Nerang to the border at Coolangatta and Tweed Heads.
1911The Tweed Heads and Coolangatta Surf Life Saving Club is formed.
1914Coolangatta separates from Nerang Shire as its own town.
1949Coolangatta merges with Southport to form the Town of South Coast.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
The southern end of the Gold Coast, joined to Tweed Heads across Boundary Street. Surf beaches and the nearby airport sustain a visitor and residential town.