Nambour

Nambour is a town and locality in South East Queensland, Australia, north of the state capital, Brisbane. The town lies in the sub-tropical hinterland of the Sunshine Coast at the foot of the Blackall Range and has a population of 10,221. It was the administrative centre and capital of the Maroochy Shire and is now the administrative centre of the Sunshine Coast Region. The greater Nambour region includes surrounding suburbs such as Burnside, Coes Creek, and Perwillowen, and has an estimated population of 15,550.EtymologyThe name is derived from the Aboriginal word "naamba", referring to the red-flowering bottle brush Callistemon viminalis.History of European SettlementIn 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. Probably near Rosemount, they encountered some resident aboriginals 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, Petrie branded the 25 aboriginals that were working for him. 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 aboriginals, 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. In 1890 the Maroochy Divisional Board was established. In 1891, the rail link with Brisbane was completed, and at its opening Petrie's Creek was renamed "Nambour", after the Nambour cattle station. A fire in 1924 destroyed many of the timber buildings along the main street.