Cotton Tree is a coastal neighbourhood within the suburb of

Maroochydore Maroochydore ( ) is a coastal town in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. The town was subdivided from the Cotton Tree reserve by Surveyor Thomas O'Connor in 1903. The land was acquired from William Pettigrew who had a timber de ...

in the

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 ...

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.

Geography

Although not officially bounded, Cotton Tree is generally recognised as being bounded by the

Maroochy River The Maroochy River is a river in South East Queensland, Australia. The river rises from the eastern slopes of the Blackall Range and flows east through Eumundi, before entering the sea at Cotton Tree, Maroochydore. Other populated centres in t ...

and Cornmeal Creek to the north, and to the south and west by Aerodrome Road and by the Pacific Ocean to the east.

Etymology

The area takes its name from the ''

Hibiscus tiliaceus ''Hibiscus tiliaceus'', commonly known as the sea hibiscus or coast cottonwood, is a species of flowering tree in the mallow family, Malvaceae, with a pantropical distribution along coastlines. It has also been introduced to Florida and New Zea ...

'' plant which is also known as Coastal Cotton tree or Cottonwood. Plenty of these are still visible near caravan park and the old creek near Fourth Avenue.

History

The first European 'holiday maker' to arrive was convict John Graham in 1827 who escaped from Moreton Bay and spent six years living with local aborigines belonging to the

Gubbi Gubbi The Gubbi Gubbi people also known as Kabi Kabi are an Aboriginal Australian people native to south-eastern Queensland. They are now classified as one of several Murri language groups in Queensland. Naming As is often the case, ethnonyms dist ...

language group. The whole (

Maroochy Shire The Shire of Maroochy was a local government area about north of Brisbane in the Sunshine Coast region of South East Queensland, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed as a local government entity from 1890 until 2008, when it ...

) area was protected by the Bunya proclamation 1842–1860. This was established after

Andrew Petrie Andrew Petrie (1798 - 20 February 1872) was a pioneer, architect and builder in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Early life Andrew Petrie was born in Fife, Scotland. He trained as a builder in Edinburgh. He married Mary Cuthbertson in 1821. ...

explored the area in 1838 and named the

using the language of Brisbane aboriginals who accompanied him. Timber getters arrived in the 1850s but the Maroochy River bar wasn't navigable so Mooloolah River bar was used instead with Cotton Tree used as a timber depot in 1856 by William Pettigrew and purchased 1864. He ran steamer ships in both rivers and to Brisbane and thus opened a post office receiving office in 1891 as the first shop in Cotton Tree. The headland at Alexandra Headland was used as a bullock paddock and for his own home which was also part of his 330-acre landholding. The Cotton Tree area was first gazetted as a wharf and water reserve (215 acres) in 1873. By 1880 it was re-gazetted as a camping reserve and used by the Salvation Army amongst others. The town of Maroochydore was subdivided from the Cotton Tree reserve in 1903 by Surveyor Thomas O'Connor. (Thomas & O'Connor streets both near Bradman Avenue bear his name). Until the 1910s, Cotton Tree was accessible only by water. Then a road through what is now Maroochydore was planned to access the area. By 1927 it was a main road. By 1937 it was a bitumen road. The fatal Maroochy air crash occurred on the beach on 30 December 1950.

Heritage listings

Cotton Tree 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: * Cotton Tree Parade:

Cotton Tree Caravan Park Cotton Tree Caravan Park is a heritage-listed caravan park at Cotton Tree Parade, Cotton Tree, Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 3 April 2009. History The lower reaches of th ...

A heritage application for Cotton Tree Bacpackers timber building was made but subsequently refused.

Amenities

Cotton Tree has its own post office located in King Street since the 1930s. The suburb consists of a beach, a river mouth, several restaurants and cafes, lawn bowls club, RSL club, surf club, Swan's rugby club, library, child care centre, resorts, homes, units, Weir's surf shop, olympic swimming pool and numerous other shops, offices and businesses. The Maroochydore Surf Life Saving Club is right on the beach. Pincushion Island currently sits just 100m off the sand to the north of river mouth. (The river mouth moves not the Island) A large part of Cotton Tree is used for camping and is now known as the

. Today camping still takes place on 8.7ha of the total 90-110ha. The land size changes significantly based on the sand movement and development of river mouth. Cotton Tree includes 2 caravan parks which maybe heritage listed. Also includes 2 Rugby union fields, 6 tennis courts, 3 bowling greens, 50m swimming pool, 2x0.5 basketball courts, 2 ping pong tables and 2 waterfront parks, 1 on the river, 1 on the beach. Surf breaks include Pipes/Seabreeze, Poofters dunnies/Abdul's, Carpark, Pinnies, the Mouth and North Shore. (Pipes was named after the location of the old sewer effluent pipe, Poofters after a derelict toilet block, Abdul's after death of local surfer Ryan Abdy) Although 'unbounded' as a suburb it's generally recognised as being east of Aerodrome Road and including all numbered avenues and esplanades. Sometimes known as Forgotten Tree.

References

Photo links

Old and New Post Office photo 1936/2010

Old and New Jetty photo 1930/2011

Postcard aerial photo 1975

Postcard aerial photo Pincushion
{{Sunshine Coast Region Suburbs of the Sunshine Coast Region Maroochydore Coastline of Queensland