The earliest Europeans to explore Noosa were either lost, escapees from penal settlements, sent on government business or entrepreneurial types looking for new opportunities.

In 1823, Richard Parson's was shipwrecked on Moreton Island. Navigationally confused, he headed north, possibly as far as Noosa. On his rescue and return, he told of the impressive timber he saw in the area.

In 1836, a ship named the "Stirling Castle" was wrecked off Bowen on its way to Singapore. Captain Fraser, his pregnant wife and crew took to the lifeboats and the boat carrying the Captain, his wife and several crew members found its way to Fraser Island. Elisa Fraser was seperated from the men and taken to Double Island Point. One of the crew eventually made it to Moreton Bay and a search party was immeidately dispatched for the remaining crew. John Graham, a convict who had escaped incarceration years ealier and lived with the Kabi people of Noosa until his eventual recapture, was employed in the search party as he spoke Kabi and was familiar with region. Eliza Fraser was rescued from a camp at the top end of Lake Cootharaba but her husband did not survive.

In 1842 Andrew Petrie carried out an expedition interested in locating timber resources and good grazing land for sheep and was particularly impressed with the Mary River basin. A few years later, James Burnett, the Assistant Surveyor of NSW at the time was sent on government surveying business.

Then in 1863, William Pettigrew, a Brisbane saw miller navigated the river as far as Cootharaba looking for timber. He found what he was looking for in the upper reach that is now the Cooloola National Park, primarily searching out cypress, kauri and hoop pine, cedar and beech. He began harvesting timber from the area but chose to take his logs to Maryborough to be milled.

Some attempts were made to grow sugar cane in the Noosa Shire in the 1870's. Mr G. F. St John Carter grew and exhibited some Creole cane that took first prize and a silver medal at the first Gympie Exhibition, beating cane from yandina, Bundaberg and Maryborough. Mr Wilkin, near Cooroy Mountain "also grew some spedid cane, erected a mill and manufactured soem very fine light brown sugar but owing to labour troubles and other causes he had to abandon the undertaking".

Gold was discovered in Gympie in October 1867 and this was the single most significant catalyst for the development of Tewantin and Noosa. Gympie exploded with goldfever, people flocked to the area to chase their fortunes and their demand for goods and services created new opporunities for the region. See Apollonian Hotel

The major access to Gympie for the first couple of years was via Maryborough. Ships dropped people and goods at Mayborough and they made their way overland to Gympie. Walter Hay owned a ferry in Maryborough that transported people across the Mary River so that they could get to and from the Gympie goldfields. His ferry service was very lucrative, but being an astute and enterprising man, he decided there must be a more direct route to Gympie from Brisbane. He set out for the Noosa River and navigated as far as he thought possible for a goods and passenger carrying vessel. On foot, he continued through the thick scrub. His determination paid off and soon after blazing a track to Gympie, the government paid him to construct the road. By 1871 Hay’s Shortcut was open, reducing the time and distance from Brisbane to Gympie by half.

Mr Grainger Ward is believed to be the first man to settle in Tewantin permanently, around 1870 however it was Walter Hay who became the largest selector of land in the Tewantin - Noosa area. By 1886 he had purchased 15 parcels of land including land in Tewantin, Noosaville and Noosa Heads.

His first cottage was built on a hill with fine views of the Noosa River. He later sold that land to a William Arthur Wallace who built a large federation style homestead – Wallace House - in 1931. Hay was largely responsible for the subdivision of Gympie Terrace by 1906, making available attractive parcels of land along the Noosa River for those who had prospered in the goldfields. Hay also built a cottage at South Head in 1881 (now known as Noosa Heads) which was later extended into a guesthouse and called Bay View House – now Halse Lodge. Hay's dual vision for Noosa as a port for Gympie and a resort playground was complete by the early 1900's. The prestigious residential development of Noosa Sound was originally Hay Island before its development in the 1970’s.

Another large selector of land around this section of the River was Frederick Goodchap who acquired the land that is now Hilton Tce and Esp. He subdivided his land in the 1920’s. In 1869/70 - 4 men (Frederick Goodchap, Abraham Luya, James Mc Ghie and John Woodburn) who had prospered in the Gympie Goldfields started a timber company inspired by the ever expanding need for timber to build Gympie and Brisbane as well as the great stories of rich timbers in the upper Noosa River and Lakes area. Their Company, Mc Ghie, Luya and Co. established what is acknowledged as the largest and most advanced timber mill in the southern hemisphere at what is now Elanda Point on the banks of Lake Cootharaba. See Mill Point.

The mill processed such huge volumes of timber that transporting the timber quickly presented a major problem. They first started rafting timber down the river but to remain competitive they designed and built their own flat bottom boats to cope with the shallow waters through the lakes system – 3 in total. Timber could then be transported to the port at Tewantin and transferred to the Culgoa. The Culgoa was a paddlesteamer built in Adelaide for the Murray River and was sold to Mc Ghie, Luya and Co. in 1872. She carried passengers and cargo up the Noosa River and was a common site along Gympie Tce.

On their passage to and from Gympie, the unique attractions of Noosa were quickly recognised by visitors to the area, particularly the stretch of land along the Noosa River. A number of gold miners who had done well in Gympie used Noosaville as their playground, buying land and building residences for themselves or holidaying here. Such was the strong association between Gympie and Noosa at the turn of the century that Tewantin and Noosa were described in local publications as the favoured seaside resort for Gympie. The Tewantin end of the River was settled first and development grew east along the river.

Once the railway opened up in Cooroy in 1891, the trip from Brisbane and Gympie to Tewantin and Noosa was much faster and more comfortable. Passengers were collected from Cooroy and driven by coach to the hotels and guesthouses in Tewantin, Noosaville and Noosa Heads.



By the beginning of the 20 century, there was quite a row of houses lining the river and shortly after, the service road to these houses became known as Gympie Terrace. Before the first bridges over Doonella Lake and Weyba Creek were constructed in 1929, Gympie Terrace and Noosa Heads were only accessible by boat. Children were transported by boat to school in Tewantin and all visitors came and went to the holiday homes and guest houses by boat. The two bridges were constructed by T.M. Burke in exchange for land at Sunshine Beach which until almost 1880 was still designated as Aboriginal Reserve Land. Now that 2 bridges allowed for motor cars to access Noosaville and Noosa Heads, there was little obstacle to the expansion of Noosa's burgeoning tourism industry.

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