Cooroy 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 subdivi ...

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 was ...

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 Cooroy had a population of 3,791 people.

Geography

Cooroy is inland from the northern

Sunshine Coast Sunshine Coast may refer to: * Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia **Sunshine Coast Region, a local government area of Queensland named after the region **Sunshine Coast Stadium * Sunshine Coast (British Columbia), geographic subregion of the Br ...

hinterland about west of

Noosa Heads Noosa Heads is a coastal town and suburb in the Shire of Noosa, Queensland, Australia. In the , the suburb of Noosa Heads had a population of 4,484 people. It is a popular holiday destination. Geography The suburb is bounded to the west by We ...

. 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 Nat ...

runs through the locality from south-east to north-west, bypassing the town. The Cooroy Noosa Road (

State Route 6 Route 6, or Highway 6, may refer to routes in the following countries: International * Asian Highway 6 * European route E6 * European route E006 Albania * National Road SH6 Argentina * Buenos Aires Provincial Route 6 Australia New ...

) runs north through the town from the Bruce Highway, then turns east.

History

Cooroy's name came from Mount Cooroy, which was originally called Coorooey, from an Aboriginal word for

possum Possum may refer to: Animals * Phalangeriformes, or possums, any of a number of arboreal marsupial species native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi ** Common brushtail possum (''Trichosurus vulpecula''), a common possum in Australian urban a ...

, ''kurui''. The area was explored by timber-cutters as early as 1863. Cooroy's main industry developed from timber, having two operating sawmills, into dairying and fruit growing. In 1915, a butter factory opened. Cooroy railway station was opened in 1891 and in the same year a post office opened. A town survey was conducted in 1907. Cooroy State School opened in 1909. Cooroy West State School opened in 1911 but closed in 1962. In February 1910, it was proposed to build a Methodist Church at Cooroy. In July 1911 a call for tenders to erect the church was issued. The stump-capping ceremony was held on Thursday 7 September 1911. The church was officially opened on Wednesday 31 January 1912 by

Harry Walker Harry William Walker (October 22, 1918 – August 8, 1999) was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager. Known by the nickname "Harry the Hat", he played as a center fielder in Major League Baseball between 1940 and 1955, ...

, followed by a social evening to celebrate the following day. On 19 February 1949 the current church building opened and the 1911 church building became the church hall, having been relocated to the back of the site. With the amalgamation of the Methodist Church into the

Uniting Church in Australia The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Union ...

in 1977, it became the Cooroy Uniting Church. The Anglican Church of the Holy Nativity was dedicated on 21 March 1914 by Archdeacon

Henry Le Fanu Henry Frewen Le Fanu (1 April 1870 – 9 September 1946) was an Anglican bishop in Australia. Early life Le Fanu was born in Dublin, Ireland. He was educated at Haileybury and Keble College, Oxford. Religious life Le Fanu was ordai ...

. That church was destroyed by a cyclone on 19 February 1954. On Sunday 7 November 1954 Archbishop

Reginald Halse Sir Reginald Charles Halse KBE CMG (16 June 1881 – 9 August 1962) was the Bishop of Riverina from 1925 to 1943 and then Archbishop of Brisbane until his death in 1962. Halse was educated at St Paul's School, London and Brasenose College, Ox ...

dedicated the new church. On 23 January 1961, a secondary department was added to Cooroy State School until the Cooroy State High School was opened as a separate school on 23 January 1963. In 1967 it became Noosa District State High School. In 2007, it was Cooroora Secondary College at

Pomona Pomona may refer to: Places Argentina * Pomona, Río Negro Australia * Pomona, Queensland, Australia, a town in the Shire of Noosa * Pomona, New South Wales, Australia Belize * Pomona, Belize, a municipality in Stann Creek District Mexico ...

which was merged into Noosa District State High School, with the Pomona campus being used for the younger students and Cooroy campus being used for the older students. In 1991, Noosa Shire Council purchased former Butter Factory buildings for use as a community centre which is now run by Cooroy Future Group as an arts centre. The town was bisected by the

until a bypass was built in 1994. Noosa Christian College opened on 28 January 2003 as a primary school with 37 students. In 2007 it expanded to offer secondary classes. Between 2008 and 2013, Cooroy was part of 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 co ...

. The Cooroy Library opened in 2010. In the , the locality of Cooroy had a population of 3,791 people. The Hinterland Adventure Playground was officially opened in Cooroy on 6 May 2022 by Noosa Shire's mayor Clare Stewart.

Heritage listings

Cooroy 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 i ...

sites, including: * Lower Mill Road:

Cooroy Lower Mill Site Kiln Cooroy Lower Mill Site Kiln is a heritage-listed kiln at Lower Mill Road, Cooroy, Shire of Noosa, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1950s. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 11 December 2008. History The Cooroy Lower M ...

* 33 Maple Street: Cooroy Post Office * 14 Myall Street: Cooroy railway station

Education

Cooroy State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 59 Elm Street (). In 2016, the school had an enrolment of 545 students with 40 teachers (34 full-time equivalent) and 24 non-teaching staff (15 full-time equivalent). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 492 students with 39 teachers (32 full-time equivalent) and 30 non-teaching staff (19 full-time equivalent).

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 ...

is a government secondary (7-12) school for boys and girls at Tulip Street (). In 2016, the school had a total enrolment of 1,335 students with 111 teachers (106 full-time equivalent) and 48 non-teaching staff (40 full-time equivalent). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 1274 students with 109 teachers (104 full-time equivalent) and 62 non-teaching staff (45 full-time equivalent).

Noosa Christian College Noosa Christian College is a co-educational Primary and Secondary College, located in Cooroy, near Noosa, Queensland, Australia. The college is owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church and its sister college, Northpine Christian C ...

is a private primary and secondary (Prep-12) school for boys and girls at 20 Cooroy Belli Creek Road (). It is operated by

Adventist Schools Australia The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Australia is formally organised as the Australian Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (often abbreviated by Australians as "the Union"), a subentity of the South Pacific Division of Seventh-day Adventists ...

. In 2016, the school had an enrolment of 243 students with 21 teachers (19.1 full-time equivalent) and 14 non-teaching staff. In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 252 students with 22 teachers (20 full-time equivalent) and 11 non-teaching staff (7 full-time equivalent). Cooroy Community Kindergarten (CCK) is at 13-15 Maple Street.

Amenities

Cooroy has a hotel, a police station, a golf club, a bowls club, the RSL club and sub branch. An overnight RV park has opened at Johnson Park. The

operates a library at 9 Maple Street. Cooroy Pomona Uniting Church is at 51 Maple Street (). Cooroy Memorial Hall & School of Arts

The Cooroy branch of the

Queensland Country Women's Association The Queensland Country Women's Association (QCWA) is the Queensland chapter of the Country Women's Association in Australia. The association seeks to serve the interests of women and children in rural areas in Australia through a network of loca ...

meets at the Cooroy Memorial Hall & School of Arts at 23 Maple Street. Cooroy-Pomona RSL Sub-Branch is at 25 Maple Street. The Hinterland Adventure Playground is in Marara Street (). Other groups include: *Cooroy Memorial Hall Association Inc. (based in Cooroy) *Cooroy Future Group Inc (based in Cooroy) *Cooroy Area Residents Association Inc. *Cooroy Chamber of Commerce *Rotary Club of Cooroy *Cooroy Scout Group

Transport

Cooroy railway station is serviced by two daily

Queensland Rail City network The Queensland Rail Citytrain network, provides urban, suburban and interurban electric passenger railway services in South East Queensland, Australia. History The first railway in Queensland did not run to Brisbane, but ran from Ipswich t ...

services in each direction and is also utilized by Queensland Rail Travel's long-distance Traveltrain services; the ''

Spirit of Queensland The Spirit of Queensland is a Queensland Rail long distance passenger rail service. It is operated by a diesel powered Tilt Train that runs five times a week on the North Coast line between Brisbane and Cairns, a distance of 1,681 kilometres ...

'' between Brisbane to Cairns, the ''

Spirit of the Outback The Spirit of the Outback is a long-distance passenger rail service in Queensland, Australia, operated by Queensland Rail's Traveltrain division. Route Debuting in November 1993 by combining the former '' Capricornian'' and '' Midlander'' tr ...

'' between Brisbane to Longreach and the Bundaberg and

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of ...

'' Tilt Trains''.

Notable residents

* Major General John Cantwell, AO, DSC (Retd.) – former Deputy Chief of Army *

Marayke Jonkers Marayke Caroline Jonkers (born 13 September 1981) is a retired Australian Paralympic swimmer and paratriathlete. She won two bronze medals at the 2004 Athens Paralympics and a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, along with a bronze med ...

– Bronze and Silver medal Paralympic swimmer