Place:Nambour, Queensland, Australia

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source: Family History Library Catalog

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Nambour is a rural town and locality in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Nambour had a population of 11,187 people.^[1]

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

In 1862, Tom Petrie with 25 Turrbal and Kabi Kabi men including Ker-Walli, Wanangga and Billy Dinghy entered Petrie's Creek with the view to exploit the large cedar growing in the vicinity. They encountered some resident Aboriginal people with whom they had a traditional ceremony together. Petrie's group afterwards made a permanent logging camp further up the creek in the area now known as Nambour. At this camp, the Aboriginal workers requested that Petrie brand them with his logging symbol. With a piece of prepared glass, he cut his logging symbol of a P inside a circle into each of the men's arms. These Aboriginal workers, as well as local Maroochy men such as Puram, worked hard, returning frequently with Petrie to build the roadway, fell the timber and transport the logs downriver. The Nambour area had its first permanent European settlement in 1870. The town was then still just called Petrie's Creek.

Maroochy Provisional School opened on 13 October 1879. It was renamed Nambour Provisional School in 1891. It became Nambour State School in 1897. It had a secondary school department from circa 1940 until 2 February 1953, when Nambour State High School opened on 2 February 1953.

Petrie's Creek Post Office opened on 1 June 1888 (a receiving office had been open from 1885, originally known as Carrollo) and was renamed Nambour by 1890.

In 1890 the Maroochy Divisional Board was established.

In 1891, the North Coast railway to Brisbane was completed, and at its opening Petrie's Creek was renamed "Nambour", after the Nambour cattle station.^[2]

On Monday 2 January 1893, St Joseph's Catholic Church was officially opened by Archbishop Robert Dunne. It was at 177 Currie Street on a site donated by Daniel Currie (after whom Currie Street was named). It was . Circa 1950, it was demolished to make way for a new church. The timber from the demolished church was used to construct Our Lady Star of the Sea (Stella Maris) in Maroochydore as a cost-saving measure. On Sunday 16 April 1950, Archbishop James Duhig laid the foundation stone for the new St Joseph's.^[3] On Sunday 1 July 1951, Duhig returned to bless and dedicate the new St Joseph's Church.

The Moreton Central Sugar Mill Cane Tramway was constructed from 1897. It was used to transport passengers and sugar cane. The tramway closed at the end of 2001. Much of the track and signal lighting still remains. A section of the track can still be seen in central Nambour along the roadway of Mill, Currie and Howard Streets.^[4]

Nambour Baptist Church opened in July 1914 on the corner of Currie Street and Mill Street (approx ). On 25 August 1921 a new church was opened. Another new church opened on Sunday 2 November 1952 on the south-west corner of Currie and Bury Streets. Circa 1970s the site was used to construct a new library.

A fire in 1924 destroyed many of the timber buildings along the main street.

The Nambour branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association was founded on 1 November 1928. In 1931 they established their QCWA Rest Rooms in the Shire Hall. In September 1958 they officially opened their own building at 10 Short Street (still in use today).

St Joseph's Primary School was opened on 2 February 1925 by the Good Samaritan Sisters. From 1940 to 1977 it also provided secondary schooling, an arrangement that ended when St Joseph's High School was established in 1977.^[5]

Nambour State High School opened on 2 February 1953.^[5]

Nambour Infants State School opened on 23 January 1961 and closed on 12 December 1980.^[5]

In 1977 the Catholic Education Office established St Joseph's High School. In 1979 it moved to a new location in Burnside and in 1985 was renamed St John's College.^[5]

The Nambour Public Library opened in 1982 and had a major refurbishment in 1998 with a minor refurbishment in 2016.

The town was bypassed by the Bruce Highway on 16 October 1990, which now forms the locality's north-eastern boundary. This alleviated most of the local traffic congestion.

Nambour Centre for Continuing Secondary Education opened on 4 February 1991.^[5] It was subsequently amalgamated into the Nambour State College.

The Nambour & District Historical Museum, more widely known as the Nambour Museum began with an opening ceremony held on 20 April 1996.

In the , Nambour had a population of 10,221.

In the , the locality of Nambour had a population of 11,187 people. 52.9% of the population were female and 47.1% were male. The median age was 40 years. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 4.4% of the population. 77.1% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England 4.0% and New Zealand 3.6%. 87.7% of people spoke only English at home. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 33.5%, Catholic 16.0% and Anglican 13.5%.^[1]

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