Buderim - Did You Know?

* Before the arrival of timber cutters the Buderim district was inhabited by the Kabi Kabi Aborigines. It is believed that their language included a word, sometimes spelt 'Badderam' and 'Budderum', which they used to describe the mountain.

* The first Europeans to explore Buderim were timbercutters looking for beech and cedar. In 1854 a man named Richard Jones explored the mountain looking for timber for Pettigrew's Mill. He was followed in 1862 by Tom Petrie, who spoke the local Aboriginal language and is probably responsible for the town's name. Petrie was the first European to extract timber.

* William Henry Guy first surveyed the district in 1869 and in 1870 settlers started purchasing and clearing the land. They planted crops of sugar cane, citrus fruits, bananas, beans and tomatoes.

* The district grew slowly but by 1875 there were nineteen children and that was enough to justify the establishment of a provisional school.

 

* The town seemed to come of age in 1876 when a sugar mill was built and John Burnett built the Pioneer Cottage, now the home of the Buderim Historical Society. It was around this time that Kanaka (South Pacific Islander) near-slave labour was used on the local sugar plantations. This is not a happy memory for the local community although one citizen, a Quaker named Joseph Dixon, built a slab-and-shingle shed near the sugar cane mill which was used by the Kanaka children as a school and Sunday school.

* The first crops of Buderim bananas were harvested in 1883-84. They were grown by James Lindsay who transported them to the coast where they were shipped to Brisbane. This was always a problem as often ships did not arrive and the bananas would rot on the wharves.

* By 1881 coffee was being grown on the mountain. In 1907 Buderim produced 18,300 kg of coffee beans.

* Transportation was an ongoing problem. When the rail reached Landsborough Buderim farmers turned away from the coast. Eventually in 1914 a tramway was built between Buderim and Palmwoods. It operated from 1914-1935.

* The biggest boost to the local rural economy was the discovery of the region's ability to grow ginger. From 1916 until the present day it has been a vital part of the district's economy.

Information copied directly from the Aussie Towns site which contains other amazing links for exploration!