Beechmont 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

Scenic Rim Region The Scenic Rim Region is a local government area in West Moreton region of South East Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by several previous local government areas with histories extending back to the early 1900s and b ...

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 Beechmont had a population of 842 people.

Geography

Beechmont is positioned on a forested ridge leading from the Lamington Plateau to

Tamborine Mountain Tamborine Mountain is a plateau and locality in the Scenic Rim Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Tamborine Mountain had a population of 7,506 people. Geography The plateau is a , . The name is from the of Yugumbir language of the Wanger ...

. Outstanding views in nearly all directions means that on a clear day

Cunninghams Gap Cunninghams Gap is a pass over the Great Dividing Range between the Darling Downs and the Fassifern Valley in Queensland, Australia. The Gap is the major route over the Main Range National Park, Main Range along the Great Dividing Range, between ...

and other

Scenic Rim The Scenic Rim is a group of forested mountain ranges of the Great Dividing Range, located south of Brisbane agglomeration, straddling the border between south-eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales, Australia. In 2021, the S ...

landforms are visible as well as

Flinders Peak Flinders Peak () is a conspicuous triangular peak, high, on the west end of the Bristly Peaks. The peak overlooks Forster Ice Piedmont near the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was photographed from the air by the British Graham Land ...

, Moogerah Peaks and the

D'Aguilar Range The D'Aguilar Range is a mountain range near Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The town of Dayboro is situated on the lower foothills midway along the range and the Sunshine Coast Hinterland town of Mooloolah lies at the northernmost point of ...

to the north west of Brisbane. To the north west of Beechmont sits the locality of Lower Beechmont and to the south is

Binna Burra Binna Burra is a parcel of private land and mountain lodge within the locality of Binna Burra and surrounded by Lamington National Park in Queensland, Australia. It is also a locality in the Scenic Rim Region. The lodge lies in the north-easter ...

. Roads in the area are narrow and windy, some are prone to rockfalls and some with very steep slopes. The road to Binna Burra Lodge and access to

Lamington National Park The Lamington National Park is a national park, lying on the Lamington Plateau of the McPherson Range on the Queensland/New South Wales border in Australia. From Southport on the Gold Coast the park is to the southwest and Brisbane is north. Th ...

goes through Beechmont. The is a popular launch site for hangliders and paragliders. Beechmont has the following named peaks: * The Summit in the south of the locality () at above sea level * Warples Hill in the south-east of the locality () at above sea level Killarney Falls is a waterfall on Back Creek in the north of the locality ().

History

The Beechmont district was occupied by the

Yugambeh people The Yugambeh ( ''(see alternative spellings)'', also known as the Minyangbal ( , are an Aboriginal Australian people of south-east Queensland and the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, their territory lies between the Logan and Tweed river ...

before the arrival of European timber cutters in the 1880s. The district takes its current name from the

White Beech ''Gmelina leichhardtii'', the white beech, is a tree of eastern Australia. Scattered individuals or small groups of trees naturally occur from the Illawarra district of New South Wales (34½° S) to near Proserpine in tropical Queensland. ...

trees in the area. The Beechmont area was opened up for selection in 1886, however many of the early settlers left after a short stay on the mountain. By the turn of the century, only three families had established themselves in the area. The Beechmont State School opened on 15 August 1904. Fruit such as apples were grown in the 1910s in the rich Beech Mountain soils of the area, but were halted due to fruit fly infestations. St John's Presbyterian Church opened on Sunday 21 February 1932 with a service commencing conducted by Reverend Alexander Duff. It was the first church in Beechmont and part of the Southport parish. In May 1947 two memorial windows were dedicated to Keith Scott and Kent Summerville, members of the congregation who died in the

RAAF "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Following the closure of the church in 1980, the memorial windows were removed and on 25 April (

Anzac Day , image = Dawn service gnangarra 03.jpg , caption = Anzac Day Dawn Service at Kings Park, Western Australia, 25 April 2009, 94th anniversary. , observedby = Australia Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Cook Islands New ...

) 1998 the windows were unveiled in a memorial gazebo at Graceleigh Park in Beechmont Road () adjacent to the Beechmont War Memorial. The church is now used for holiday accommodation. The tourism potential of Beechmont was realised in 1910 as one of the motivations to build a railway line to

Canungra Canungra is a rural town and locality in the Scenic Rim Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Canungra had a population of 1,229 people. Geography Located in South East Queensland, Canungra is situated in the Gold Coast hint ...

, which led to the

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended fr ...

deciding in 1911 to construct the Canungra branch line from

Logan Village railway station Logan may refer to: Places * Mount Logan (disambiguation) Australia * Logan (Queensland electoral district), an electoral district in the Queensland Legislative Assembly * Logan, Victoria, small locality near St. Arnaud * Logan City, local gove ...

on the South Coast railway line to Canungra. Construction began in 1913 and the line opened to Canungra railway station on 2 July 1915."The Canungra Branch" ''

Australian Railway History ''Australian Railway History'' is a monthly magazine covering railway history in Australia, published by the New South Wales Division of the Australian Railway Historical Society on behalf of its state and territory Divisions. A dairying property located near Beechmont on the Nerang River was advertised to be sold by auction 23 November 1920 by Cameron Brothers auctioneers. The plan shows the land for sale, 858 acres, being subdivision 2 of portion 106, Parish of Gilston, on Beech Mountain, facing the present Binna Burra Road, within 13 miles of Nerang Township. From the 1920s, the area became known as a mountain tourist destination. In July 1936, Dr John Bradfield, the designer of the

Story Bridge The Story Bridge is a heritage-listed steel cantilever bridge spanning the Brisbane River that carries vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the northern and the southern suburbs of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is the long ...

in Brisbane and the

Sydney Harbour Bridge The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The view of the bridg ...

was forced to stop at Beechmont when heavy rain prevented the completion of his journey to

. On 4 February 1942, a US

P-40 Kittyhawk The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and ...

, piloted by Flight Lieutenant Donald Harry Hunter from 3 Service Flying Training School (3 SFTS) RAAF at Amberley, crashed on the side of Battens Ridge. Hunter was killed in the accident. On 23 January 1971, Rosin Lookout was established as a rest area. It was named after either banana grower Frederick John Rosin, a pioneer of the

Nerang Nerang is a town and suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the , Nerang had a population of 16,864 people. Geography The Nerang River flows through the locality from south to east, passing through the town. The river u ...

district who was the first owner of the land on which the lookout stands or his son John Henry Rosin who owned the land in 1968, when the

Beaudesert Shire Council The Shire of Beaudesert was a local government area located in South East Queensland, Australia, stretching from the New South Wales border, along the Gold Coast hinterland to the urban fringes of the cities of Brisbane and Ipswich. The Shire c ...

acquired the land. On 18 July 1971, RAAF Sabre jet A94-962 flying out of

Numinbah Valley Numinbah Valley is a rural locality in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the , Numinbah Valley had a population of 218 people. Geography The Numinbah Valley is a valley and locality in the Gold Coast hinterland in South East Qu ...

, struck and severed high voltage powerlines between Beechmont and

. The jet suffered damage to the nose, canopy, and tailplane but was able to return to Amberley. On Sunday 11 November (

Remembrance Day Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day owing to the tradition of wearing a remembrance poppy) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces members who have died in t ...

) 1990, the Beechmont War Memorial was unveiled in Graceleigh Park. In the , the locality of Beechmont had a population of 842 people, of which 50.2% are males and 49.8% are females with a median age of 46, 8 above the national average. The average weekly household income is $1,399, $39 below the national average. 1.6% of Beechmont's population is either of Aborigional or Torres Strait Islander descent. 64.6% of the population aged 15 or over is either registered or de facto married, while 35.4% of the population is not married. 25.8% of the population is currently attending some form of a compulsory education. The most common nominated ancestries were English (31.7%), Australian (28.2%) and Scottish (9.4%), while the most common countries of birth are Australia (73.4%), England (5.1%) and New Zealand (5.0%), and the most commonly spoken languages at home are English (90.9%), French (0.5%) and German (0.4%). The most common nominated religions were No religion (44.0%), Anglican (14.5%) and Catholic (14.1%). The most common occupation was a technician/trades worker (18.4%) and the majority/plurality of residents worked 40 or more hours per week (36.8%). As at 2019, there are still dairy farms operational in the area, but only three remain in operation as the area is experiencing increasing levels of development.

Heritage listings

Beechmont 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: * Binna Burra Road:

Binna Burra Cultural Landscape Binna Burra Cultural Landscape includeBinna Burra Lodge a sustainable, heritage-listed nature-based accommodation and services provider at Binna Burra Road, Binna Burra, Scenic Rim Region, Queensland, Australia. Commencing with a camp in 1933, ...

* 2-4 McInnes Court (): Beechmont Church (former St John's Presbyterian Church)

Education

Beechmont State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 1922 Beechmont Road (). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 109 students with 10 teachers (7 full-time equivalent) and 8 non-teaching staff (5 full-time equivalent). There is no secondary school in Beechmont. The nearest government secondary schools are Tamborine Mountain State High School in

to the north and Nerang State High School in

to the north-east.

Amenities

St John's Catholic Church is on Windabout Street (corner of Fleming Road, ). It is part of the Nerang parish and services are held on the fourth Sunday of each month. Graceleigh Park is a general purpose sports ground located next to the Beechmont State School. The park was named after the 'Graceleigh' property, one of the early dairy farms in the area and owned by John Sharp. The park area provides facilities for cricket, soccer, football, tennis, and netball. The Beechmont Cricket Club and Beechmont Tennis Club both operate club rooms on the site. The Scenic Rim Regional Council operates a

mobile library A bookmobile or mobile library is a vehicle designed for use as a library. They have been known by many names throughout history, including traveling library, library wagon, book wagon, book truck, library-on-wheels, and book auto service. Bookm ...

service which visits Graceleigh Park. The 'Hall on Graceleigh' is a multi-purpose school hall located adjacent to the Beechmont State School and Graceleigh Park. It was built under the

Building the Education Revolution Building the Education Revolution (BER) is an Australian government program administered by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) designed to provide new and refurbished infrastructure to all eligible Austral ...

stimulus program in 2011. Under an agreement with the local community group and Scenic Rim Council, the hall was built on council land in exchange for it being made available for general community use. The 'Providence Farm Hall' was the original Beechmont community hall built in October 1948 on land donated by the McKenzie family. The hall was the venue of many community dances, celebrations, and social events. In 2011, the hall was sold back to the McKenzie family and the proceeds reinvested in community projects. The Beechmont Community Centre is located on the old state school grounds at Beechmont. The centre is home to many community groups and clubs. The Headmaster's Cafe operates from the original headmaster's residence at the site. The Beechmont Area Progress Association, who manages the site, operates the monthly Beechmont Markets and an op-shop. Rosins Conservation Area is part of a collection of linked conservation areas, including

Springbrook National Park The Springbrook National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Gold Coast hinterland of Queensland, Australia. The park is situated on the McPherson Range, near Springbrook, approximately south of Brisbane. The park is p ...

and Pocket Road Conservation Area, that provide a large area of core habitat for a wide range of native fauna.

Infrastructure

There is a mobile phone tower near the village. Internet is available with ADSL1 and ADSL2+ over copper lines. The Beechmont exchange is connected via a microwave link to the Telstra National Network. Beechmont is listed on the National Broadband Network (NBN) roll-out plans for Jul-Dec 2019 with a deployment of fixed wireless technology. Tarred roads are available to Canungra and to Nerang. The roads are narrow and windy and sometimes closed or reduced to one lane passes after landslides and other rain induced incidents.

Attractions

Rosins Lookout is a lookout on top of the ridgeline near 1684 Beechmont Road (). It offers views across over the

across to

Springbrook Springbrook may refer to: Places Australia * Springbrook, Queensland ** Springbrook National Park, Queensland ** Springbrook State School, a heritage-listed building in the park ** Springbrook Road, a heritage-listed road Canada * Springbrook, ...

and

Mount Warning Mount Warning ( Bundjalung: ''Wollumbin''), a mountain in the Tweed Range in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia, was formed from a volcanic plug of the now-gone Tweed Volcano. The mountain is located west-south-west of Mu ...

. There are barbeque and picnic facilities. The lookout is a popular launch site for hang gliders and paragliders. Beechmont War Memorial is in Graceleigh Park in Beechmont Road ().

Notable residents

Notable people from or who have lived in Beechmont include: *

Greg Brough Gregory John Brough (26 March 1951 – 9 March 2014) was an Australian long-distance freestyle swimmer of the 1960s and 1970s, who won a bronze medal in the 1500-metre freestyle at the 1968 Summer Olympics. In Mexico City, Brough finished ...

- 1968 Olympic medalist swimmer

References

External links

*
Beechmont Area Progress Association Inc
(BAPA)
Beechmont Internet Exchange
{{authority control Scenic Rim Region Towns in Queensland Localities in Queensland