History of the Gold Coast

The local Kom-bumerris Aboriginal people, inhabited the Gold Coast region for 23,000 years, before European settlement.

Captain James Cook became the first European to visit the Gold Coast, but the region remained uninhabited by Europeans until 1823 when explorer John Oxley landed at Mermaid Beach.

Large numbers of Timber Cutters were drawn to the region by the supply of redcedar in the Tween, Nerang and Coomera River areas. The surrounding valleys and plains were quickly developed by cattle, sugar and cotton farms.

1885 was the start of building in the Gold Coast region. As automobile technology became more reliable in the 1930s, housing estates and hotels were developed.

The South Coast region was a very popular holiday destination for servicemen returning from World War ll, and by the end of the 1940s, real estate speculators and journalists had begun referring to the area as the 'Gold Coast' and as the tourism industry grew into the 1950s, local businesses and councils began to adopt the term in their names. The area was proclaimed a city less than a year later.