Gold Coast History

Pre 20th Century

Queensland started as a penal colony in 1824, but by 1859 it had become a separate colony independent of New South Wales. Wholesale land acquisition by settlers (Queensland's early white settlers indulged in one of the greatest land grabs of all time) met with fierce, but ultimately futile, Aboriginal resistance.

As early as 1884, the Gold Coast began gaining a reputation as a holiday destination and regular coach services began running from Brisbane followed by a rail link in 1889 between the Gold Coast and Beenleigh.

Modern

James Cavill built the Surfers Paradise Hotel in the early 1920s and the town (previously called Elston) was renamed after the hotel to attract more visitors in 1933. The surrounding area later became known as the Gold Coast due to the development boom of the 1950s. Such was the extent of this explosion that almost the entire beachfront had been completely developed by the 1960s.

Recent

The Gold Coast is always heaving during the summer months but gets brim full during Schoolies Week (mid-November to mid-December), the Australian leg of the IndyCar series (early October), and the Billabong Pro surfing competition in February. The state's sporting obsession rivals Victoria's; recently, the Queensland Government announced that they would spend $100 million on a new, 25,000-seat stadium for the Gold Coast to support the newest team in Australia's National Rugby League, the Gold Coast Titans. They debut in 2007 at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium.