Keppel Sands

Keppel Sands is a coastal rural town and locality in the Livingstone Shire, Queensland, Australia.

Keppel Sands is a coastal rural town and locality in the Livingstone Shire, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Keppel Sands had a population of 360 people.

Originally known as Sandhills, the town takes its current name from Keppel Bay, which in turn was named on 27 May 1770 by Lieutenant James Cook , commander of HMS Endeavour, after Admiral Augustus Keppel, the First Lord of the Admiralty.Keppel Sands has long been a popular beach to visit for people from Rockhampton and the surrounding area. Over the years beach huts and weekenders gradually gave way to the more permanent housing of today. Boarding houses were popular until the road improved and daytripping to the beach became possible. The Savoy Theatre was a place for both movies and dances.

Mount Barlow Provisional School opened in 1903 and became Mount Barlow State School on 1 Jan 1909. It was renamed Sandhills State School about 1930 and then renamed Keppel Sands State School about 1938.Keppel Sands Post Office opened on 1 September 1927.Near to Keppel Sands is Joskeleigh which was home to a large South Sea Islander community, imported as indentured labourers from various islands in Melanesia and Polynesia in a process known as blackbirding.At the 2006 census, Keppel Sands had a population of 332 people.Between 2008 and 2013, Keppel Sands and the rest of Shire of Livingstone was within the Rockhampton Region.

At the 2011 census, Keppel Sands had a population of 302 people.In the 2016 census, Keppel Sands had a population of 360 people.