Mapleton is a rural 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
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.
In the , the locality of Mapleton had a population of 1,564 people.
[
It includes one of Queensland's largest Outdoor Education Centres (QCCC Mapleton), the Lilyponds, the Mapleton Tavern and historic Seaview House (St Isidore's Farm College), and has panoramic views of the Sunshine Coast.
]
Geography
The town is located high on the Blackall Range
The Blackall Range is a mountain range in South East Queensland, Australia. The first European explorer in the area was Ludwig Leichhardt. It was named after Samuel Blackall, the second Governor of Queensland.
The Blackall Range dominates the ...
in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, 10 minutes drive from Nambour
Nambour is a rural town and locality in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Nambour had a population of 11,187 people.
Geography
Nambour is north of the state capital, Brisbane. The town lies in the sub ...
, 25 minutes from Maleny
Maleny (pronounced ''mah-lay-knee'') is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. At the , the locality of Maleny had a population of 3,959 people. Maleny was a timber town ...
and 30 minutes from 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 ...
.
Montville–Mapleton Road
Blackall Range road network is a group of roads that provide access to the mountain localities and towns from various lowland places, and enable travel between the mountain communities. The network ensures continuity of access in times of floodi ...
enters from the south, Nambour–Mapleton Road
Blackall Range road network is a group of roads that provide access to the mountain localities and towns from various lowland places, and enable travel between the mountain communities. The network ensures continuity of access in times of floodi ...
enters from the east, and Obi Obi Road exits to the south-west.
History
For countless generations, the Blackall Range has held spiritual significance for many Aboriginal people throughout South East Queensland. Abundant bunya pines growing throughout this area produced large nut crops, providing enough food for huge gatherings. When the nut crop peaked every three years, Kabi Kabi and neighbouring Wakka Wakka people hosted the Bonyee Festival. Many invited guests travelled great distances from coastal and inland areas to share food, songs and dances, arrange marriages, and other social interactions. A large grassy area near Baroon Pocket was an important gathering place.
Early settlers of the area grew fruit, vegetables and cereal crops. The first timber cutters extracted red cedar and beech
Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...
timber taking it to Nambour.
Initially the settlement was known as Luton Vale until 1899 when the name was changed after the English town. The name of ''Mapleton'' was decided at a meeting of early settlers in 1894, with one of the group, W.J. Smith, having read about the English town of the same name. A postal receiving office was established at E.H. Biggs' Luton Vale Orchard in 1892. The area was officially named Mapleton, as a postal site, in 1894.
During the 1890s, the area continued to develop with farm selections being made for various orchards and plantations.
Mapleton Provisional School opened on 17 July 1899 with an initial enrolment of 15 students under teacher Lizzie Fitzgerald. It became Mapleton State School on 1 January 1909.
In 1906, the road from the Mary Valley
The Mary River (Kabi Kabi: ''Moocooboola'') is a major river system located in the South East and Wide Bay–Burnett regions of Queensland, Australia.
Etymology
The river was traditionally named ''Moocooboola'' by the indigenous Australian Ka ...
to Mapleton was complete.
By 1909, a sawmill was operating in the town. It closed in 1972.
The Mapleton Methodist Church was officially opened on Sunday 11 July 1909 by the Reverend W. Stanley Bath. The church building was and built from hardwood that was cut at Mr Rosser's mill in Mapleton. The contractor was Mr W. Lanham. The church was located approximately at 21 Flaxton Drive (). The church was still open in 1965, but, as at 2021, it is no longer operating and the building no longer exists.
From 1915 through until 1944, Mapleton was served by a gauge Mapleton Tramway
Moreton Central Sugar Mill Cane Tramway is a heritage-listed tramway at Mill Street, Currie Street, and Howard Street, in Nambour, Queensland, Nambour, Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built . It was added to the Queensland ...
which ran nearly from Nambour. It was worked by two shay locomotive
The Shay locomotive is a geared steam locomotive that originated and was primarily used in North America. The locomotives were built to the patents of Ephraim Shay, who has been credited with the popularization of the concept of a ''geared st ...
s.
Pineapples, dairying and small crops were the towns major industries until the late 1950s.
The scenic beauty of the area has allowed tourism to dominate in the decades since.
In the , the locality of Mapleton had a population of 1,564 people.
Heritage listings
Mapleton has a 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 ...
site:
* St Isidore's
St Isidore's is a heritage-listed homestead at 40 Post Office Road, Mapleton, Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from to by James Blair Cramb. It is also known as Mapleton Homestead, Seaview House, and St Isidore's Far ...
(also known as Seaview House), 40 Post Office Road
Education
Mapleton State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at Flaxton Drive (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 218 students with 21 teachers (14 full-time equivalent) and 14 non-teaching staff (8 full-time equivalent). It includes a special education
Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...
program. The school grounds are large and include Baxters Creek and a new covered multi-purpose area, administration offices and resource centre which opened in December 2009.
There are no secondary schools in Mapleton. The nearest government secondary school is Burnside State High School
Burnside State High School is a secondary education institution in Burnside, Queensland, Australia, with 425 students (as of 2010) that caters for grades 7 through to 12. The school was opened in 1979.
STEMM programme
Burnside State High Sch ...
in Burnside, Nambour
Nambour is a rural town and locality in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Nambour had a population of 11,187 people.
Geography
Nambour is north of the state capital, Brisbane. The town lies in the sub ...
, to the east.
Amenities
The Mapleton Community Library is at 10 Obi Obi Creek Road (). It is operated by volunteers.
Mapleton Post Office is at 11 Post Office Road ().
Mapleton has many other community services, associations and clubs including the Mapleton & District Community Associations (MADCA), a bowls
Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-gre ...
club and community gym, a tourist information and arts centre, a choir, tennis club, kindergarten and rural fire service. There is also a medical centre which provides primary health care
Primary health care, or PHC, refers to "essential health care" that is based on scientifically sound and socially acceptable methods and technology. This makes universal health care accessible to all individuals and families in a community. PHC in ...
for the community. The Mapleton Tennis Club at 31 Obi Obi Road has two outdoor courts available to club members and the general public.
Attractions
The Blackall Range Tourist Drive gives visitors access to shops on Obi Obi Road and Post Office Road in Mapleton. These shops include a fish and chip shop, cafe and delicatessen, bakery, two coffee shops, a tavern with bottle shop, a gallery, art & gift shop, leadlight workshop, and a pizza and pasta restaurant.
There is a Community Information Centre in Obi Obi Road. Next door, in the Old School House, is a secondhand clothing shop that raises money for the Sunshine Coast Community Hospice. Mapleton has a hardware, supermarket, service station, pharmacy, three real estate agents, and a number of massage services, alternative therapists, physiotherapist and hairdressers.
The largest attraction of visitors to the town is the Queensland Conference and Camping (QCCC) Outdoor Education Centre which was built in 1983. The facility hosts 30,000 guests annually, most of them school children The 55-acre property has more than twenty activity options and employs eighty local people.
The Mapleton Observatory is at the Mapleton State School. It is operated by volunteers and is open to the public.
Mapleton Falls National Park (formerly Mapleton Forest Reserve) protects rainforest remnants with bunya pine
''Araucaria bidwillii'', commonly known as the bunya pine and sometimes referred to as the false monkey puzzle tree, is a large evergreen coniferous tree in the plant family Araucariaceae. It is found naturally in south-east Queensland Austral ...
s, piccabeen palm
''Archontophoenix cunninghamiana'' (Bangalow palm, king palm, Illawara palm, ''piccabben'', ''piccabeen'') is an Australian palm. It can grow over 20 m tall. Its flower colour is violet and the red fruits are attractive to birds. It flowers i ...
groves, tall open blackbutt forests and picturesque mountain scenery. Picnic tables, toilets and barbecues are provided.
The Park marks the point just west of Mapleton where Pencil Creek cascades 120 metres over an escarpment. This small, day-use-only park, shelters many bird species, including the peregrine falcon
The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (Bird of prey, raptor) in the family (biology), family Falco ...
, eastern whipbird
The eastern whipbird (''Psophodes olivaceus'') is an insectivorous passerine bird native to the east coast of Australia. Its whip-crack song is a familiar sound in forests of eastern Australia. Two subspecies are recognised. Heard much more ofte ...
and wompoo fruit-dove
The wompoo fruit dove (''Ptilinopus magnificus''), also known as wompoo pigeon, is one of the larger fruit doves native to New Guinea and eastern Australia.
Taxonomy and systematics
Subspecies
There are generally 7-8 recognised subspecies, ...
. From the carpark there is a short walk to Mapleton Falls lookout with wheelchair access to toilet and lookout. The panoramic view takes in the waterfall and Obi Obi Valley. From the open, grassy picnic area, the Wompoo circuit winds through eucalypts and rainforest where visitors may hear the fruit-dove's booming calls, ''wallock-a-woo'' and ''book-a-roo''. Near the causeway pool frogs may be heard and distinctive hexagonal volcanic rocks seen.
The Lilyponds area was for many years a swamp and underwent an $800,000 makeover to turn it into a community park. There are free BBQ's, children's play park and covered seating areas.
Delicia Road Conservation Park is a small park protecting remnant forest communities. It is a refuge for wildlife and a place where visitors can enjoy the native forest. The land was donated by Linda Garrett and so locals refer to it as Linda Garrett Park. There is a walk called the Linda Garrett circuit which passes through rainforest, a palm grove and tall, wet, eucalypt forest. The great barred frog
The great barred frog (''Mixophyes fasciolatus'') is an Australian ground-dwelling frog of the genus ''Mixophyes''.
Description
The great barred frog reaches a size of 8 centimetres and has large, powerful legs. It has a dark brown dorsal surfa ...
may be seen along Gheerulla Creek and birdwatchers may hear the melodic, drumming call of the endangered marbled frogmouth
The marbled frogmouth (''Podargus ocellatus'') is a bird in the family Podargidae. The species was first described by Jean René Constant Quoy and Joseph Paul Gaimard in 1830. It is found in the Aru Islands, New Guinea and Queensland. Its nat ...
.
Accommodation
Mapleton has two caravan parks, several self-catering units, and bed-and-breakfasts accommodation. Queensland Conference and Camping Centres Mapleton currently offers three hundred beds.
See also
* Mapleton Falls National Park
* Nexus (magazine)
''Nexus'' is an Australian-based bi-monthly alternative news magazine. It covers geopolitics and conspiracy theories; health issues, including alternative medicine; future science; the unexplained, including UFOs; Big Brother; and historical r ...
, based in Mapleton.
* List of tramways in Queensland
List of tramways in Queensland provides three separate lists, each in alphabetical order of the key identifier. They are:
* Non sugar cane tramways, ordered by Tramway Name as contained in Wikipedia articles.
* Sugar cane tramways, ordered by Sug ...
* Blackall Range road network
Blackall Range road network is a group of roads that provide access to the mountain localities and towns from various lowland places, and enable travel between the mountain communities. The network ensures continuity of access in times of floodi ...
References
Attribution
This article incorporates text from Published under CC-BY-4.0br>licence ("Using State Library website and blog content")
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
*
Town map of Mapleton, 1974
{{Authority control
Suburbs of the Sunshine Coast Region
Towns in Queensland
Localities in Queensland