Place names tell our history

Place names have a story to tell and give us an insight into our history. On the Sunshine Coast, we have a rich heritage of Aboriginal words, European names of early settlers and dignitaries, flora, fauna and events.

Sunshine Coast Council has the responsibility to decide on appropriate names after they have been submitted by developers or members of the public.

Our rich heritage of Aboriginal names includes Caloundra, meaning ‘beautiful place’. Mooloolaba is ‘black snake’, while Coolum refers to its blunt shape.

Noosa means ‘shaded’ but was originally referred to as Bracefield’s Head or Cape Bracefield (Bracefield was a runaway convict found by Andrew Petrie).

Maroochydore, ‘place of the black swan’, was named by Petrie on a journey of discovery in the 1840s. He was impressed with abundant black swans in the river.

As cars speed down Aerodrome Road, once an airfield, we may consider it is well named. It is hard to imagine that it was once an expanse of wildflowers and coastal heath. There were dairy farms around Maroochydore in the 1930s. William Parker’s dairy farm faced Aerodrome Road. His four daughters hand milked the cows. Three of their names, Maud, May and Rose, remained as street names when their farm was subdivided.

On June 5, 1965, then premier GFR Nicklin officially opened the Nicklin Way: a new road from Caloundra to Mooloolaba. Until then, the area had only a few sandy tracks through the wallum, with direct access by boat along Mooloolah River.

That same day, the McKenzie Bridge was opened. It was named after Roy and Gwen McKenzie and their family who came from Sydney to settle in the region in 1956. Roy had previously worked as a boat builder. He set up a fibreglass boat-building company – a first for Queensland.

Adjacent to the bridge, they built their home and a boat wharf and started a seafood shop. Roy combined being a professional fisherman with boat building.

An earlier bridge along the Nicklin Way was the Ahern Bridge, opened on January 18, 1964. It was named after Mike (Michael John) Ahern, member for Landsborough from 1968 to 1990, and also premier of Queensland from 1987 to 1989. Both Mike and his father Jack gave long service to state politics. The bridge is now known as the Currimundi Lake Ahern Bridge. Mike’s wife is honoured with the name of the Andrea Ahern Hospital.

Tucker Creek Bridge took its name from ‘Butcher’ Tucker and his wife Elizabeth who, in the 1920s, purchased 167 acres (67.6ha) of land at Mooloolaba with a creek running through. ‘Butcher’ was one of the three sons of Nambour blacksmith Henry Tucker. He and his wife were prominent in community organisations.

‘Butcher’ was a professional fisherman and his wife ran a guesthouse, shop and post office. Their cows roamed Mooloolaba, and milk was sold for sixpence (five cents) a quart (one litre).

 Audienne Blyth is a member of the Nambour Historical Museum, open 1-4pm Wednesday to Friday, and 10am-3pm Saturday.