Eumundi is a rural town and

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

in the

Sunshine Coast Region The Sunshine Coast Region is a local government area located in the Sunshine Coast region of South East Queensland, Australia, from which it takes its name. It was created by the amalgamation in 2008 of the City of Caloundra and the Shires o ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. Eumundi is very popular on the coast for its bi-weekly farmers' markets. In the , the locality of Eumundi had a population of 2,504 people.

Geography

Eumundi is south-west of

Noosa Heads Noosa Heads is a coastal town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the Shire of Noosa, Queensland, Australia. It is a popular holiday destination. In the , the suburb of Noosa Heads had a population of 5,120 people. Geography ...

and north of the state capital,

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. It is located just off 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 Natio ...

. Nearby towns are Yandina and Cooroy. The Eumundi-Noosa Road starts at the Bruce Highway and exits to the east.

History

Town blocks were surveyed and divided in 1890. The town's name is believed to come from the Kabi name Ngumundi, the name of a local Indigenous clan leader, who was said to have adopted escaped convict Bracefield as his adopted son. Prior to 1890 the town was called Eerwah after Mount Eerwah; this was changed to avoid confusion with the nearby town of Beerwah. The original Eumundi railway station opened in 1891 on Gympie Road (now Memorial Drive) opposite Gridley Street () as part of the opening of the North Coast line; it is now the site of the Eumundi Markets. The current Eumundi railway station () opened in 1988 when a deviation was built as part of the

electrification Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. In the context of history of technology and economic development, electrification refe ...

of the North Coast line. St Ita's Catholic Church was originally built circa 1896 on a hilltop on the corner of Gridley Street and Crescent Street overlooking the town. A church bell was installed in 1912. In 1934 it was relocated closer to the town centre at 129 Memorial Drive ().

Australian Prime Minister The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the federal executive government. Under the principles of responsibl ...

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian diplomat and former politician who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and June to September 2013. He held office as the Leaders of the Australian Labo ...

attended this church as a child (he became an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

later in life). The church closed circa 1976 and the building sold and is now a private home. The church bell is now in the Eumundi Museum. On Thursday 14 June 1900, 17 choice farm blocks were advertised for auction by King and King Auctioneers. A map advertising the auction stated that Eumundi Estate was 1/4 mile from Eumundi Station and the Brisbane and Gympie Railway line ran through the property. In 1906, at the Land Office in Brisbane, the

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a Parliament, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, ...

auctioned 13 town lots in Eumundi, each of which was approximately . These were located in two groups, one near Etheridge Street and the other near Arundell Street. Eumundi Butter Factory was built in 1907, becoming the largest milk collecting building on the Sunshine Coast. The dairy mainly produced butter and cream until it was closed in 1953 when milk was moved to

for processing. The building was destroyed by fire on 10 July 2005. A town hall was completed in 1908 after a school of arts committee raised the funds. On Saturday 2 December 1911, the Eumundi Methodist Church was officially opened by Reverend Henry Youngman, President of the Methodist Church of Australia. The church at 73 Memorial Drive () was built by Francis Gustavus Hill and was . The external walls were double-dressed crows ash

chamferboard Clapboard (), also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of those terms, is wooden siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping. ''Clapboard'', in modern Am ...

, the ceiling was of

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

, and the roof was iron. In 1996, the now-closed Methodist Church was re-opened as the Eumundi Historical Museum. St George's Anglican Church at 15 Cook Street was dedicated on 21 July 1912 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. Its closure on 26 June 2005 was approved by Assistant Bishop Appleby. The property was sold and the church is now a private residence. The Eumundi 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 ...

was established on 9 November 1927. On 26 December 1929 their building was officially opened by Harry Walker, Member of the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly h ...

for Cooroora. St Andrew's Presbyterian Church at 123 Memorial Drive () opened in 1953. The Orana Nursery, operated in Eumundi from 1973 to 1991. It became the largest supplier of

bougainvillea ''Bougainvillea'' ( , ) is a genus of thorny ornamental vines, bushes, and trees belonging to the family, Nyctaginaceae. They are native to Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru, and Argentina. There are between 4 and 22 species in the genus. The i ...

s in the Sunshine Coast region. Eumundi was bisected by the Bruce Highway until a bypass was completed in August 1976. between Eerwah Vale and Main Creek.Department of Main Roads Annual Report 1976-1977 On 24 March 1979, the first Eumundi Market was held at the CWA hall with 3 stalls, 8 visitors and $30 of sales. It grew to over 600 stalls and 1.6 million visitors each year. The original Eumundi Brewery was opened in the Imperial Hotel in 1988. The brewery was closed in the late 1990s, but was rebuilt on its original site in the Imperial Hotel in 2017. In September 2019, the Eumundi Community Church (formerly the St Andrew's Presbyterian Church) closed, leaving the town without any active churches. The closure was due to declining attendance which was attributed to decreasing religious beliefs (in the 2016 census 43% of Eumundi residents said they had "no religion") and a preference of those with religious beliefs to attend larger services in other towns, such as the

Hillsong Church Hillsong Church, commonly known as Hillsong, is a charismatic Christian megachurch and a Christian association of churches based in Australia. The original church was established in Baulkham Hills, New South Wales, as Hills Christian Life Centr ...

. In 2020, the town's

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

club fielded a senior team for the first time in about 100 years.

Heritage listings

Eumundi has a number of

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

sites, including: * Eumundi School of Arts, 63 Memorial Drive () * Eumundi War Memorial Trees, Memorial Drive () * St George's Anglican Church, 15 Cook Street ()

Demographics

In the , the locality of Eumundi had a population of 1,924 people. In the , the locality of Eumundi had a population of 2,221 people. In the , the locality of Eumundi had a population of 2,504 people with 47.8% males and 52.2% females.

Education

Eumundi State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 22 Caplick Way (). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 645 students with 46 teachers (40 full-time equivalent) and 25 non-teaching staff (16 full-time equivalent). It includes a

special education Special education (also known as special-needs education, aided education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, and SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual di ...

program. There is no secondary school in Eumundi. The nearest secondary school is Noosa District State High School which operates on two campuses. Its junior campus is in Pomona to the north-west and its senior campus is in neighbouring Cooroy to the immediate north-west.

Facilities

Eumundi Police Station is at 5 Napier Street (). Eumundi Post Office is at 71 Memorial Drive (). Eumundi Cemetery is at 632 Bunya Road (). It is managed by the

Sunshine Coast Regional Council The Sunshine Coast Region is a Local government in Australia, local government area located in the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Sunshine Coast region of South East Queensland, Australia, from which it takes its name. It was created by the amalg ...

Amenities

The

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. Boo ...

service which visits Memorial Drive across from the School of Arts () on Tuesday afternoons. The Eumundi branch of the

meets at QCWA Hall at 78 Memorial Drive (). The Eumundi Aquatic Centre is on Memorial Drive (). It has swimming pools and a gym. There are also tennis courts on the site operated by the Eumundi Tennis Club. Eumundi Showgrounds is at 1 Black Stump Road (). There is a child care centre at 4 Napier Street ().

Events

The Eumundi Markets are held on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 80 Memorial Drive (). The markets have a philosophy of "locally made". The Eumundi Agricultural Show is normally held in September each year, but has not been held during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Attractions

Eumundi Brewery at the Imperial Hotel at 1 Etheridge Street () offers tours of the brewery. However, during 2020 and 2021, the tours have been suspended due to the

. As at February 2021, the Eumundi Museum at 73 Memorial Drive () is closed for refurbishment expected to re-open in late 2021. Ball Lookout at 224 Eumundi Range Road () has panoramic views to the south-west. Bi-Centennial Lookout at the end of Panorama Drive () on the boundary with Doonan has 360-degree panoramic views. Eumundi is proud of its late 19th-century history, with fewer old buildings. The town has a heritage walk that includes guided tours through an original railway station, historic buildings and old timber cottages.

Notable residents

Notable former residents include: *

, the former

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and former

Foreign minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

Pat Rafter Patrick Michael Rafter (born 28 December 1972) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), and world No. 6 in doubles. Rafter won eleven ...

, tennis champion

References

External links

* {{Authority control Suburbs of the Sunshine Coast Region Populated places established in 1890 Towns in Queensland 1890 establishments in Australia Localities in Queensland