QLDRail & telegraph
Sandgate
Brisbane’s first seaside escape arrived by train.
1882Railway from Brisbane opens
WHAT STARTED IT
Sandgate sits on Bramble Bay at the mouth of Cabbage Tree Creek, a short run from Brisbane to open bay shore. Town lots were sold from 1853, but the 1882 railway made it a destination for beach bathers and excursionists.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
Proclaimed a borough in 1880, it trebled in population in the decade after the railway and became a town in 1903, with a handsome town hall. It was absorbed into Greater Brisbane in 1925 and lost many visitors once the Hornibrook Highway to Redcliffe opened in 1935.
TURNING POINTS
1853The first town lots are sold on Cabbage Tree Head.
1880Sandgate is proclaimed a borough, separate from Nundah.
1882The railway connects Sandgate to Brisbane, opening on 10 May.
1912A new town hall opens, two years after fire destroyed the old wooden council building.
1925The Town of Sandgate is amalgamated into the City of Brisbane.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A bayside suburb of Brisbane with a village-like shopping strip, foreshore parks and a heritage-listed town hall. Commuters have replaced the Sunday picnic crowds.