The History of Settlement in Wamuran
Waraba settlement, now known as Wamuran, was originally a timber town with plenty of red cedar and other exotic timbers in Campbell’s Pocket and the Wamuran Basin area. In the early days the logs were taken by bullock teams into Caboolture to the rafting ground (end of Short Street Caboolture) and then floated down the river to Deception Bay. There they were picked up by steamers and taken to Brisbane saw mills and to the Port of Brisbane for export. From around 1909 logs were taken to the Wamuran railway siding and loaded onto the railway wagons for transport to other mills and into Brisbane. There were a number of local saw mills and these were fed by locally harvested logs. The milled timber was then used locally or transported to other centres.
When the selectors and timber-getters started arriving in the 1870’s the land was heavy scrub and much of the Wamuran Basin and Campbell’s Pocket areas consisted of dense rainforest. The first settlements were in these two areas. Wamuran soon became, and still is, well known for its diversified farming industry. This began with the growing of maize and sheep grazing. Bullock wagons from Mt. Mee delivered maize to Caboolture for about 4 pence [5 cents] a bushel. It was soon discovered that the country was not suitable for sheep and these enterprises were soon abandoned.
The first road, for horse & sulkies and bullock wagons, from Brisbane through Wamuran to Woodford was via Old Northern Road, crossing Caboolture River Road, along Old North Road, over Zillman’s crossing and along what is now W. Lindsay Road, across Campbell’s Pocket Road into Flux Road and then followed the spur onto R. Williams & Pedwell Roads, along McLeod Lane to Woodford Road and onto Woodford.
Later the coaches travelled along Old North Road with a stop-over at Eric Mollenhagen’s/Kelly’s place, now 199 Old North Road, along Woodford Road and then onto the Bushman’s Arms Hotel at Paddy’s Pinch at the bottom of the big climb at Bracalba. This hotel was moved to D’Aguilar in 1910.
When the Cobb & Co coaches eventually came through from Caboolture the stop-over and the ‘collection point’ for the mail was the property on the western side of the corner of Woodford Road and Turnbull Road. However, when the railway line came through in 1909, the railway station became the mail delivery point.
With the opening of the Caboolture to Woodford railway in 1909, and the Caboolture Butter Factory, dairying replaced sheep and maize as a staple source of income. Dairy and beef cattle played a big part in Wamuran’s early history. Bananas were introduced in 1910 by Charlie Hall, and banana farming continued to grow into a solid industry. Early growers in the 1900s were Wise and the Salisbury Brothers. Around 1919, pineapples were planted in larger quantities by Harry Westacott in Bye Road and, after further subdivision, Wamuran became one of the largest pineapple producing areas in Queensland.
Syd Childs planted passionfruit in 1929, up on the mountainside on R. Williams Road, and thus became the first commercial passionfruit farmer in Queensland. The locals referred to Syd’s property as “Passionfruit Ridge”. Tobacco farming was a significant industry in Wamuran during the 1960’s and 1970’s with Roy Ziviani obtaining the highest prices for tobacco in Australia for a number of years. Strawberries have become a very large industry, and employer, in the district over the last 20 odd years.
Other types of farming in this area include avocados, citrus, pawpaws, vegetables (small crops), mangoes, lychees, tropical stone fruit, exotic tropical fruits, pecan and macadamia nuts, custard apples, raspberries and flowers. Large turf farms now proliferate and there is a vibrant and active equine interest with most rural blocks carrying a horse or two. A drive around the area will also discover ostriches, deer and alpacas on many small acreage blocks.
It is really worth taking a drive around the back roads of Wamuran to see what is actually produced around the district. A quick cruise along the D’Aguilar Highway can never unlock the beauty and diversity of the area. Wamuran is a beautiful, undulating rural area with ‘country fresh country air’ and a great diversity of farms, the D’Aguilar Range and great views of the Glasshouse Mountains. Well worth taking a drive around the back blocks.
Information supplied by Hilary Berger.
