Mooloolaba, Queensland

Mooloolaba is a suburb and tourist resort township on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Australia. It is located 97km north of the state capital, Brisbane, and is part of the Maroochydore urban centre. At the 2011 Australian Census the suburb recorded a population of 7,333.EtymologyMooloolaba derives from the Aboriginal word mulu, meaning snapper fish, or mulla meaning Red-bellied Black Snake. Originally known as Mooloolah Heads, the name was changed to Mooloolaba by Thomas O'Connor in 1919 when he subdivided land for sale there.HistoryLieutenant Heath surveyed and chartered the Mooloolah River mouth and harbour in 1861. The following year, Tome Petrie explored the region for timber resources. By 1864, the first land was purchased at the mouth of the Mooloolah River by William Pettigrew. Pettigrew dominated the timber trade in the Maroochy District for the next thirty years. He founded a timber depot and wharf to ship timber from Cotton Tree and Buderim to his Brisbane sawmill. In partnership with James Low, he also opened the first store in the district to serve the needs of the new settlers.Mooloolah Heads was the gateway to the Maroochy District between 1870 and 1884. Due to the protection Point Cartwright offered, the port was preferred over the Maroochy River. Pettigrew's steamers 'Tarshaw,' 'Tadorna Radjah' and 'Gneering' operated along both rivers. The steamers carried produce, passengers and timber between Mooloolaba and Brisbane. In 1891, with the opening of the North Coast Railway to Yandina, river transport deteriorated. Pettigrew transferred his activities to Maroochydore, establishing a sawmill there in 1891, leading to the further declination of the depot at Mooloolah Heads. Over the next decade little development occurred in the coastal areas.