Cooran, Queensland Explained

Type:town
Cooran
State:qld
Coordinates:-26.3352°N 152.823°W
Local Map:yes
Zoom:11
Pop:1756
Postcode:4569
Elevation:84
Area:37.9
Timezone:AEST
Utc:+10:00
Dist1:16.5
Dir1:NW
Location1:Cooroy
Dist2:30.3
Dir2:WNW
Location2:Tewantin
Dist3:31
Dir3:SE
Location3:Gympie
Dist4:57.1
Dir4:NNW
Location4:Maroochydore
Dist5:146
Dir5:N
Location5:Brisbane
Lga:Shire of Noosa
Stategov:Nicklin
Stategov2:Noosa
Fedgov:Wide Bay
Near-N:Kin Kin
Near-Ne:Pinbarren
Near-E:Pomona
Near-Se:Pomona
Near-S:Federal
Near-Sw:Tuckekoi
Near-W:Traveston Coles Creek
Near-Nw:Mothar Mountain

Cooran is a rural hinterland town and locality in the Shire of Noosa, Queensland, Australia.[1] [2] In the, the locality of Cooran had a population of 1,756 people.

Geography

Cooran is predominantly farming land with its urban centre in the north of the locality. Pinbarren Creek and Six Mile Creek flow from east to west through the northern part of the locality, while Coles Creek flows from east to west through the southern part of the locality. All the creeks flow into the Mary River.

The Bruce Highway passes through the south-west corner of the locality but does not pass through the town. The major routes to the town are Traveston Road (from the north-west), Coles Creek Road from the south-west and Greenridge-Pinbarren Road from the east.

The North Coast railway line passes through the town and northern part of the locality, to the north of Traveston Road. Cooran is served by the Cooran railway station in the centre of the town (-26.334°N 152.8227°W).[3]

Mount Cooran is a very distinctive peak in the landscape (-26.3703°N 152.8119°W).[4]

History

The name Cooran comes from guran or kuran, meaning tall in the Kabi language.[1] [2] This might refer to Mount Cooran or to the tall Moreton Bay Ash trees (Eucalyptus tessellaris).[5]

Cooran Lagoon lies between the North Coast railway line and Railway Street near James Street,[6] where the Aboriginals used it as a source of water-lily bulbs and mussels for food. The Indigenous name for the lagoon is Guran.

By 1878, the lagoon was the site of the Half Way Hotel (also known as the Half Way House) on the old Gympie-to-Tewantin coach road (also known as the Noosa Road).[7] It was operated by William Casey, until he transferred the licence to William Martin in December 1881.[8] Nothing remains of the hotel but the approximate site is marked with a plaque.[9] [10]

In December 1889, Martin transferred the hotel licence to his new Cooran Hotel at the Cooran railway station.[11]

Cooran Post Office opened on 17 June 1889 (a receiving office had been open from 1888).[12]

The Cooran Provisional School opened on 21 July 1890.[13] It became Cooran State School in 1909.

In the early 1900s, Cooran became a thriving centre of agriculture, with the main livelihoods of timber and dairying.

In April 1906, William Martin had plans drawn up for a public hall.[14] On Friday 17 August 1906, William Martin opened with his new hall with a free social event. The hall had a NaNfeet dance floor with a stage which was the full width of the hall and deep. It was lit by 3 Rochester lamps, each of which used one gallon of oil to produce the light of 100 candles for 12 hours. At that time, it was the largest event ever held in Cooran with around 200 people in attendance, some having ridden up to to attend.[15]

St Matthew's Anglican Church was dedicated on 30 September 1913 by Archbishop St Clair Donaldson.[16] It closed circa 1987.[17]

In the 1920s and 30s, banana growing became an important industry around the town.[18] For a period after World War II pineapple farms gained popularity in the district.[18]

In the early 2000s, the 26-km Noosa Trail Network was linked through Cooran.

Between 2008 and 2013, Cooran (and the rest of Noosa Shire) was within Sunshine Coast Region.[19] [20]

Demographics

In the, the locality of Cooran had a population of 1,457 people.

In the, the locality of Cooran had a population of 1,624 people.

In the, the locality of Cooran had a population of 1,756 people.

Heritage listings

Cooran has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

Education

Cooran State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 31 James Street (-26.3406°N 152.8241°W).[22] [23] In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 134 students with 15 teachers (9 full-time equivalent) and 10 non-teaching staff (6 full-time equivalent).[24]

There is no secondary school in Cooran. The nearest secondary school is Noosa District State High School. It has a campus offering schooling to Year 8 in neighbouring Pomona to the east with schooling to Year 12 available at its campus in Cooroy to the southeast.

Amenities

Cooran Memorial School of Arts is at 14 King Street .[25] The hall remains the oldest memorial hall in the Noosa Region. It acts as a community hall with different venues.

The Shire of Noosa operates a mobile library service on a weekly schedule in King Street.[26]

Tourism

Cooran has been a tourist destination since the decline of dairying in the 1990s. It is a popular stopping place on the hinterland for scenic drives. Facilities include a community store, a memorial school of arts, three nature reserves and several additional local businesses. The town sits within surroundings of lush valleys and is connected by the network of the Cooroora and Woondum Trails.

Attractions

The James M. McKane Memorial Lookout (also known as the Tablelands Lookout) is at 526 Tablelands Road .[27]

Transport

Cooran railway station on the Nambour and Gympie North railway line has passenger train services from Brisbane. Cooran is served by Route 632 for bus stops departing from Noosa Junction Station.

External links

Notes and References

  1. 28 December 2020.
  2. 28 December 2020.
  3. Web site: 2 October 2020. Railway stations and sidings – Queensland. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20201005070354/https://www.data.qld.gov.au/dataset/transport-features-queensland-series/resource/84fff9a0-e315-4844-9c4d-63934562a9bd. 5 October 2020. 5 October 2020. Queensland Open Data. Queensland Government.
  4. 31 August 2015.
  5. Web site: Cooran. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20220131094631/https://www.queenslandplaces.com.au/cooran. 31 January 2022. 31 January 2022. Queensland Places. Centre for the Government of Queensland, University of Queensland.
  6. Web site: 1983. Town of Cooran. 31 January 2022. Queensland Government. Map. 8 February 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210208222626/https://gisservices.information.qld.gov.au/arcgis/rest/directories/historicalscans/cad_scans/cad-map-town-cooran-1983.jpg. live.
  7. News: 17 April 1878. ANNUAL LICENSING MEETING.. X. 3. Gympie Times And Mary River Mining Gazette. 1083. Queensland, Australia. National Library of Australia. 31 January 2022.
  8. News: 24 December 1881. Advertising. XIII. 2. Gympie Times And Mary River Mining Gazette. 1452. Queensland, Australia. National Library of Australia. 31 January 2022.
  9. Web site: Cooran. 2022-01-31. Tourism & Events Queensland. en. 31 January 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220131070659/https://www.queensland.com/us/en/places-to-see/destination-information/p-56b26042d5f1565045da363b-cooran. live.
  10. Web site: 5 Mary River Catchment (includes Pomona, Cooran, Black Mountain, Ridgewood, Pinbarren & Federal). live. https://web.archive.org/web/20210208225642/https://www.noosa.qld.gov.au/downloads/file/1159/mary-river-catchment. 8 February 2021. 30 January 2022. Historical Cultural Heritage of Noosa Shire. Noosa Shire Council. 126–127.
  11. News: 2 July 1889. Advertising. XXI. 2. Gympie Times And Mary River Mining Gazette. 2510. Queensland, Australia. National Library of Australia. 31 January 2022.
  12. Web site: Premier Postal History . Post Office List . Premier Postal Auctions . 10 May 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140515223132/http://www.premierpostal.com/cgi-bin/wsProd.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=QLD&country= . 15 May 2014 . live .
  13. 31 August 2015.
  14. News: 28 April 1906. NOTES BY OUR TRAVELLING CORRESPONDENT.. 10. The Queenslander. 2094. Queensland, Australia. National Library of Australia. 31 January 2022.
  15. News: 23 August 1906. COORAN.. XXXVIII. 3. Gympie Times And Mary River Mining Gazette. 5028. Queensland, Australia. National Library of Australia. 31 January 2022.
  16. News: 4 October 1913. RELIGIOUS.. 5. The Brisbane Courier. 17,387. Queensland, Australia. 27 July 2020. National Library of Australia. 5 February 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210205035406/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/19907110. live.
  17. Web site: Anglican Church of Southern Queensland. Closed Churches. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20190403003329/https://www.anglicanarchives.org.au/churches/. 3 April 2019. 3 July 2020.
  18. Book: Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland) . Heritage Trails of the Great South East . Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland) . 2000 . State of Queensland . 0-7345-1008-X . 148 .
  19. Web site: Backward Glance: History of Local Government on the Sunshine Coast . 2023-08-02 . Sunshine Coast Regional Council.
  20. Web site: 2 January 2014 . The Noosa De-amalgamation: Building a New Organisation . 2 August 2023 . . 8–9.
  21. 14 July 2013.
  22. Web site: 9 July 2018. State and non-state school details. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20181121065959/https://data.qld.gov.au/dataset/state-and-non-state-school-details/resource/5b39065c-df32-415c-994c-5ff12f8de997. 21 November 2018. 21 November 2018. Queensland Government.
  23. Web site: Cooran State School. 21 November 2018. 27 March 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200327013720/https://cooranss.eq.edu.au/. live.
  24. Web site: ACARA School Profile 2018. 28 January 2020. Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. 27 August 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200827085246/https://www.acara.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/school-profile-2018.xlsx. live.
  25. Web site: Cooran Hall and Acoustic Night. 2022-01-31. en-US. 23 December 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211223202503/https://cooranhall.org.au/. live.
  26. Web site: Noosa Mobile Library – Mobile Stops – Noosa Mobile Hours. Shire of Noosa. 19 January 2018. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20180130140146/https://www.libraries.noosa.qld.gov.au/mobile-libraries. 30 January 2018.
  27. Web site: Cooran Tablelands Lookout / James McKane Memorial Lookout. 2022-01-31. Visit Noosa. en-AU. 31 January 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220131064720/https://www.visitnoosa.com.au/products/cooran-tablelands-lookout-james-mckane-memorial-lookout. live.