QLDPort & river
Southport
The Gold Coast began as Queensland’s southernmost port.
1875Township surveyed
WHAT STARTED IT
Southport grew at the mouth of the Nerang River, where cedar logs rafted downstream could be sawn and shipped to Brisbane. The Broadwater, sheltered from the surf by The Spit and South Stradbroke Island, also offered calm sea bathing.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
A Governor’s summer residence in the 1880s, a new public jetty in 1883 and the 1889 railway made it Queensland’s fashionable seaside resort, with schools and guesthouses. It became the administrative centre of the South Coast council in 1949, later the City of Gold Coast.
TURNING POINTS
1875The Southport township is surveyed beside the Nerang River mouth.
1883A new public jetty opens off central Southport, so steamers no longer land passengers and goods by small boat.
1889The railway from Beenleigh opens to Southport on 24 January.
1925The Jubilee Bridge over the Nerang River is christened to mark the town’s fiftieth year.
1949Southport and Coolangatta merge as the Town of South Coast, later Gold Coast City.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
The Gold Coast’s business and government centre, and the seat of the city’s administration since the South Coast council formed in 1949. The Broadwater foreshore remains its link to the old port.