QLDPort & river
Maroochydore
Before the shopping centre, a timber wharf at the river mouth.
1868Timber wharf built at the river mouth
WHAT STARTED IT
Timber cut in the inland ranges was floated down the navigable Maroochy River, and the river mouth was where it was loaded for Brisbane. A wharf was built there in 1868; William Pettigrew moved his timber operations to the river in 1884 and opened a sawmill there in 1891, with cottages for his workers.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
The mill closed in 1898, and surveyor Thomas O’Connor, who bought Pettigrew’s land in 1903, held the first sale of township allotments in 1908. A reliable coast road in the early 1960s brought tourism, and Maroochydore and Mooloolaba together grew from about 3,000 people in 1961 to more than 28,000 by 1991.
TURNING POINTS
1868A wharf is built at the Maroochy River mouth to ship timber.
1891William Pettigrew opens a sawmill on the riverbank.
1908Thomas O’Connor holds the first sale of town allotments on Pettigrew’s former land.
1960sA new coast road opens the area to tourism.
1995Sunshine Plaza opens near the Cornmeal Waterway.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
The commercial centre of the Sunshine Coast, with Sunshine Plaza beside the Cornmeal Waterway. A new city centre is being built on the former Horton Park golf course.