Population 3,142 (2011 census) State electorate(s) Noosa Area 52.6 km² Federal division Division of Wide Bay | Postcode(s) 4562 Doonan Weyba Downs Postal code 4562 | |
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Location 15 km (9 mi) SW of Noosa Heads LGA(s) Sunshine Coast partly
Shire of Noosa partly | ||
Doonan is a suburb on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. The name is believed to come from the Aboriginal word for leaf. The northern part is within the local government area of Shire of Noosa and the southern part is within Sunshine Coast Region (between 2008 and 2013 it was entirely within Sunshine Coast Region). At the 2011 Australian Census Doonan recorded a population of 3,142.
Contents
Map of Doonan QLD 4562, Australia
History
The Doonan area was first settled in the late 1800s. Many of the early settlers had land on what is now known as Cash Road. They included Neils Bierregaard in 1889 and William Stuart-Russell, 1910-1930. Also Thomas Robinson, who selected in 1898, and was granted deeds in 1906 to 159 acres. He transported all his goods from Eumundi railway station by packhorse and earned a living by felling timber mainly from his own property. After he was killed by a falling tree in 1910, his family stayed on the property. His eldest son Joseph married Marie Stuart-Russell and they settled on their own property, further down Doonan Road below the steep hill. This hill was often called "Misery Hill", presumably because of its bogginess in wet weather.
William Cash and family selected in 1898. They built a house of cedar slabs and were the first to bring banana plants in by pack horse. Timber felling was their main occupation and to assist them they had their own bullock teams. Cash Snr was a master of most trades - carpenter, builder, blacksmith, wheelwright, slaughterman- butcher. Michael and Mary Burke settled on 200 acres of rainforest. They cleared the land for dairying, had pigs, grew cane, as well as growing arrowroot and sweet potatoes for pig feed.
Further along Doonan Road, Joe and Marcella Bowden and their nine children settled in 1927. They cleared the land and planted a banana farm. William and Edith Duke settled in what is now called Duke Road in 1917. They began dairying and growing bananas on the slopes with some farmers working on a share basis. There was a tennis court on the property and dances were held in the homes of the residents. Further along towards Tewantin, Bill and Esther Bedington settled in what is now called Bedington Road in 1909, and kept a dairy farm. Esther had been the gatekeeper and postmistress at the Eumundi Railway Station.
Local children had gone to Eumundi School, but as more children came to the district, the parents applied for a school at Doonan. Tom Stevens donated the land and permission was granted to build a school. Doonan Provisional School was opened in 1919. In 1920 it became a State School until its closure in 1954. A railway link from Eumundi to Tewantin, which would run through Doonan, was proposed in 1915. A survey was undertaken, but the project was shelved during World War I and abandoned.