Cooran is a rural hinterland town and

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

in the

Shire of Noosa The Shire of Noosa is a local government area about north of Brisbane in the Sunshine Coast district of South East Queensland, Australia. The shire covers an area of . It existed as a local government entity from 1910 until 2008, when it wa ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

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

Geography

Queensland State Archives 271 Pinbarren Noosa Shire looking towards Cooran c 1931

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 The Bruce Highway is a major highway in Queensland, Australia. Commencing in the state capital, Brisbane, it passes through areas close to the eastern coast on its way to Cairns in Far North Queensland. The route is part of the Australian Na ...

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 Cooran railway station is located on the North Coast line in Queensland, Australia. It serves the town of Cooran in the Shire of Noosa. History Cooran railway station opened on 10 June 1889 with the opening of the line from Gympie. It was th ...

in the centre of the town (). Mount Cooran is a very distinctive peak in the landscape ().

History

The name ''Cooran'' comes from ''guran or kuran'', meaning ''tall'' in the Kabi language. This might refer to Mount Cooran or to the tall Moreton Bay Ash trees (

Eucalyptus tessellaris ''Corymbia tessellaris'', commonly known as carbeen or Moreton Bay ash, is a species of tree that is endemic to north-eastern Australia. It has rough, tessellated bark on the lower trunk abruptly changing to smooth, whitish bark above, narrow la ...

). Cooran Lagoon lies between the North Coast railway line and Railway Street near James Street (), 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). It was operated by William Casey, until he transferred the licence to William Martin in December 1881. Nothing remains of the hotel but the approximate site is marked with a plaque. In December 1889, Martin transferred the hotel licence to his new Cooran Hotel at the Cooran railway station. Cooran Post Office opened on 17 June 1889 (a

receiving office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

had been open from 1888). The Cooran Provisional School opened on 21 July 1890. It became Cooran State School in 1909. In April 1906, William Martin had plans drawn up for a public hall. On Friday 17 August 1906, William Martin opened with his new hall with a free social event. The hall had a 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. St Matthew's Anglican Church was dedicated on 30 September 1913 by

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

St Clair Donaldson St Clair George Alfred Donaldson (11 February 1863 – 7 December 1935) was an English Anglican bishop. He was the first Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane, Australia. Early life Donaldson was the third son of Sir Stuart Alexander Donaldson and hi ...

. It closed circa 1987. In the 1920s and 30s, banana growing became an important industry around the town. For a period after World War II pineapple farms gained popularity in the district. In the early 2000s, the 26-km Noosa Trail Network was linked through Cooran. Between 2008 and 2013 Cooran (and all of Noosa Shire) was within

Sunshine Coast Region The Sunshine Coast Region is a local government area located in the Sunshine Coast district of South East Queensland, Australia. It was created by the amalgamation in 2008 of the City of Caloundra and the Shires of Maroochy and Noosa. It cont ...

. In the 2011 census, Cooran had a population of 1,457 people. In the the locality of Cooran had a population of 1,624 people. Today Cooran is a small country town and retains its rural feel, as well as its main street with its preserved historic buildings.

Heritage listings

Cooran has a number of

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many ...

sites, including: * 28 King Street: Alfredson's Joinery

Education

Cooran State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 31 James Street (). 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). There is no secondary school in Cooran. The nearest secondary school is

Noosa District State High School Noosa District State High School is a twin campus high school based in Cooroy and Pomona in the Shire of Noosa, Queensland, Australia. The school was established in 1963, and as of 2016, had 1335 students. It is the longest-established secondar ...

. It has a campus offering schooling to Year 8 in neighouring Pomona to the east with schooling to Year 12 available at its campus in Cooroy to the south-east.

Amenities

Cooran Memorial School of Arts is at 14 King Street (). 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.

Attractions

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

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Suburbs of Noosa Shire, Queensland Localities in Queensland