Coolangatta

Estate map of the town of Coolangatta, Queensland, 1885

Coolangatta was one of the earliest settlements on the Gold Coast. Once again focused on a steep headland at Point Danger the area was occupied by Europeans from at least 1828 by a convict station and red cedar getters soon followed.

On Wednesday 18 August 1846 the schooner Coolangatta was wrecked on Kirra / Bilinga Beach adjacent to a creek during a storm .

Anchor from Coolangatta wreck site memorial; creek at right

A topsail schooner of 83 feet (25 m) in length and 88 long tons (89 t), Coolangatta was built by John Blinksell in 1843 for Alexander Berry whose property, Coolangatta Estate, adjoined Coolangatta mountain located on the northern bank of the Shoalhaven River, New South Wales.

On 6 July 1846 the ship sailed under Captain Steele from Brisbane, carrying two convict prisoners (George Craig in irons, and William George Lewis), to load red cedar logs at the Tweed River for Sydney. Steele found the river entrance closed by silt forming a bar, so he anchored in the lee of Point Danger off Kirra Beach. Red cedar logs were then hauled overland from Terranora Inlet and rafted from the beach, but in six weeks less than half of the contracted 70,000 feet of red cedar had been loaded. Meanwhile, five ships loaded with red cedar were bar-bound inside the river.

On 18 August 1846, while Steel was ashore, a south-east gale blew up. Steele's boat was damaged while getting through the surf and he watched from the beach as the gale intensified. Eventually, the prisoners were freed and all hands abandoned ship and swam for shore as the anchors dragged. The ship parted its anchors and washed ashore near what was later called Coolangatta Creek.

The survivors walked 70 miles (110 km) north to Amity Point in six days, fed each night by different groups of friendly indigenous Australians, and were taken into Brisbane on board the Tamar.

Selectors followed in the 1860s and a small settlement was established.

In 1883 a township was surveyed. A map of the town in 1885[21] shows the results of a recent land sale where several town lots were sold.[22] Government surveyor Henry Schneider named the area Coolangatta after the shipwreck while surveying in 1883 for the land auction in March 1884.

Border Gates between Coolangatta and Tweed Heads, 1943

Aerial view looking towards Point Danger, Coolangatta, c. 1952. Tweed Heads (New South Wales) is to the left. The main road running inland from the headland is Boundary Street, which marks the state border.

Border marker between two states, dividing the "Twin Towns"

Snapper Rocks, a popular surfing and sea-bathing area in Coolangatta

As a border town Coolangatta included a customs office, boatshed and government wharf.

The South Coast railway was extended from Nerang railway station to Tweed Heads in New South Wales and opened on 10 August 1903.[23] Coolangatta railway station was located to the south of the intersection of Griffith and Dutton Streets (28.1685°S 153.5367°E / -28.1685; 153.5367 (Coolangatta railway station (former))). The terminus Tweed Heads railway station was in Tweed Heads near Thomson Street (28.1720°S 153.5405°E / -28.1720; 153.5405 (Tweed Heads railway station (former))).[24][25] The railway guaranteed the success of Coolangatta as a holiday township and it flourished from that time forward.

The Tweed Heads Surf and Life Saving Club was established on Friday 26 January 1909.[26] Tweed Heads and Coolangatta Surf Life Saving Club building opened on 13 September 1911.[27] Guesthouses and hotels were erected and a commercial centre soon followed.

Land was advertised for sale in December 1912, being allotments in sections 3, 14, 25, [16 & 17], town of Coolangatta and portion 44 (special lease) parish of Tallebudgera,[28] with 7 allotments facing either Marine Parade or Griffith Street. A further 35 allotments immediately south of Coolangatta railway station and 2 further allotments facing McLean Street were also advertised for sale.[29]

Prior to 1914, Coolangatta was administered by the Nerang Divisional Board, which became the Shire of Nerang in 1903. In 1914, Coolangatta had its own local government, the Town of Coolangatta, but in 1949 it was amalgamated into the Town of South Coast, which later became City of Gold Coast.[30]

The Coolangatta Star newspaper was published from 1916 to 1927. In May 1927, the Tweed Heads and Coolangatta star amalgamated with the Coolangatta Chronicle to become the Border Star.[31] The Border Star newspaper ceased publication in 1942.[32]

In January 1919 the border between Queensland and New South Wales was closed to all traffic in response to the 1918 flu pandemic in an attempt to stop the spread of the disease north into Queensland.[33] People found themselves stranded on the one side of the border unable to return to their homes or employment on the other side.[34] Quarantine stations and camps were established to house travelers and stranded residents. One impact on the border closure was the need to duplicate services across the twin towns on the Queensland side of the border, as at 1 February 1919, Coolangatta had no doctor, no pharmacist, no milkman, no butcher and no undertaker. Nor did Coolangatta have a school nor a post office.[35] The border remained closed until May 1919.[36]

One of the services that required duplication was a school for 56 children living in Coolangatta but attending school in Tweed Heads.[37] Previously on 28 June 1918 the Queensland Department of Public Instruction had indicated their intention to establish a school at Coolangatta but no progress had been made. When the Coolangatta children were unable to return to their Tweed Heads school in February 1919, the Coolangatta Town Council made a meeting room available in their council chambers for use as a temporary school room and the Queensland Department of Public Instruction sent school furniture and one teacher from Brisbane, and Coolangatta Provisional School commenced operation on 10 February 1919. The next task was to construct a school building with two classrooms on the school reserve at 1 Garrick Street (corner of Powell Street, 28.1675°S 153.5338°E / -28.1675; 153.5338 (Coolangatta State School (former))) on Kirra Hill.[38] Although expected to be completed in six months, it was not until the start of the 1920 school year that the new Coolangatta State School opened with 67 students under headmaster Claude de Jersey and another teacher.[39] It was officially opened on 2 October 1920 by Queensland Governor Matthew Nathan.[39][40] Growth in the school over the decades subsequently led to its relocation to Stapylton Street, officially opening there on 26 November 1977. The old school bell from Kirra Hill was relocated to the Stapylton Street where it remains in daily use.[41]

There was a stump-capping ceremony held for the Coolangatta Methodist Memorial Church on Sunday 8 June 1924.[42] The church was officially opened at 26-28 Lanham Street (28.1693°S 153.5356°E / -28.1693; 153.5356 (Coolangatta Methodist Church)) on Sunday 27 September 1924 by Reverend Dr George Edward Rowe.[43] Following the Methodist Church amalgamating into the Uniting Church in Australia in 1977, the church became Coolangatta Uniting Church. In June 1988 the Uniting Church in Coolangatta and Tweed Heads merged to form the Twin Towns Uniting Church.[44] In 1992 the growing population in Banora Point in New South Wales resulted in the decision to open a Uniting Church there and in the late 1990s, that church became a parish in its own right with the Twin Towns parish now serving only Coolangatta.[45][46]

St Augustine's Catholic Church at its opening, December 1926

On Monday 31 April 1925 Archbishop James Duhig laid the foundation stone of St Augustine's Catholic Church.[47] On Sunday 19 December 1926 Duhig returned to officially open and bless the church.[48] The church was built in a commanding position overlooking the Pacific Ocean in the Italian Romanesque style. The tower is 110 feet (34 m) high.[49]

St Augustine's Catholic School was established in 1926 by the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. From 1950 the school was operated by Missionary Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. On 27 January 1987 the school relocated to a new site in Currumbin Waters. In 1992 the sisters ended their association with the school which is now under lay administration.[50][51]

The foundation stone of St Peter's Anglican Church at 34 Lanham Street (corner of Dutton Street, 28.1693°S 153.5362°E / -28.1693; 153.5362 (St Peter's Anglican Church (former))) was laid on 31 October 1937 by Archbishop William Wand.[52] It was dedicated in 1938 by Wand. Its closure circa 2013 was approved by Archbishop Philip Aspinall.[53][54]

An unnamed cyclone crossed the coast at Coolangatta on the night of 20 February 1954.[55] The storm quickly cleared from Queensland skies but moved south, causing widespread loss of life and flooding in New South Wales.

The railway line closed in 1961 due to the rising use of cars.

Little remains of the earliest structures at Coolangatta but some evidence remains of subsequent development in the early years of the twentieth century including the Coolangatta Hotel, Kirra Beach Hotel and St Augustine's Catholic Church (Coolangatta). In addition to the former Coolangatta State School, the Anzac Memorial (Coolangatta), Jazzland Coolangatta, the Kirra Beach Pavilion, Kirra Beach Shelter Shed and the remains of Jack Evans Porpoise Pool are on the Gold Coast Local Heritage Register.[56]

The border fence and gates that until recently were a characteristic of the area have now been removed but the sense of the border remains at Boundary Street running along the ridge of the headland between Queensland and New South Wales. The headland itself is an important landmark and tourist destination and is the site of the Point Danger Lighthouse. Coolangatta symbolises the terminus of the Gold Coast and the long strip of beach that begins at Main Beach forty kilometres to the north.

Coolangatta and its surrounds were the home of two early tourist attractions on the Gold Coast. Jack Evans Porpoise Pool which was built at Snapper Rocks in 1957[57][58] and Gilltraps Auto Museum which was established at Kirra in 1959.[59]

Coolangatta Special School opened on 1 January 1979 on the Kirra Hill site vacated by the Coolangatta State School.[39] On 1 July 2006 the school was relocated to Currumbin Waters and renamed Currumbin Community Special School.[41][50][60][61] Following local agitation from the "Save Kirra Hill" group, the school buildings at the Kirra Hill site were transferred to the Gold Coast City Council in 2008 for community purposes. The Council spent $3 million in restoration and refurbishment before officially opening the site as the Kirra Hill Cultural and Community Centre in October 2011.[41] The Kirra Hill site is listed on the Gold Coast Local Heritage Register.[62]

To commemorate the centenary of Coolangatta, in 1984 a stone from the Coolangatta Estate homestead was donated by the citizens of Coolangatta near Berry, New South Wales and was mounted on a plinth of granite from Aberdeen, Scotland, the birthplace of Alexander Berry.

The Coolangatta library opened in 2013.[63]

During 2020 and 2021, the Queensland borders were closed to most types of traffic due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Border crossing points were either closed or had a Queensland Police checkpoint to allow entry to those with an appropriate permit. Griffith Street at Coolangatta was one of the police checkpoints, while other crossing points were closed.[64]

• "Gold Coast Local Heritage Register - A to M" (PDF). Gold Coast City Council. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 August 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
• "Gold Coast Local Heritage Register - N to Z" (PDF). Gold Coast City Council. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 August 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2020.