Nambour

Nambour is a town and locality in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia.

Nambour is a town and locality in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. At the 2016 census Nambour had a population of 11,187.

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 No 363 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 Feb 1953.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.

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.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).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.

Along the middle of the roadway of Mill, Currie and Howard Streets, a piece of Queensland Rail history is still on display – the Nambour to Coolum Tramline. The Tramline was used to transport passengers and sugar cane in the early 1920s. The Tramline forms part of the Moreton Central Sugar Mill Cane Tramway, The tramway closed at the end of 2001. Much of the track and signal lighting still remains.

The Nambour & District Historical Museum, more widely known as the Nambour Museum began with an opening ceremony held on 20 April 1996. The Nambour Public Library opened in 1982 and had a major refurbishment in 1998 with a minor refurbishment in 2016.In the 2011 census, Nambour had a population of 10,221.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. In 1979 the high school relocated to

Nambour State High School opened on 2 Feb 1953.Nambour Infants State School No 901 opened on 23 January 1961 and closed on 12 December 1980.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.Nambour Centre for Continuing Secondary Education opened on 4 February 1991. It was subsequently amalgamated into the Nambour State College.

Nambour features a rich variety of colourful murals which reflect and celebrate the town's history. An image of a mural located on Bury Street opposite the Sunshine Coast Council depicts George Land Bury, who was one of the early pioneer settlers of the area.