Turn back the clock on our beaches
Bargara – its beginnings Bargara was originally known as Sandhills, an acknowledgement of the unstable coastal sand formations that were the subject of land development in the late 1880s. One early resident found his holiday house alternately had sand drifts banked up against it or denuded foundations. Stabilisation was achieved by planting marum grass in the 1920s. The Sloping Hummock, a remnant volcanic formation named by Matthew Flinders in 1802, hosts the geologically rare cinder cone and provides fertile land for sugar cane. Augustus Barton, a semiretired grazier, took an interest in sugar farming and built his Mon Repos homestead c1884, using scoria stones from the Hummock to build walls. The finest surviving example of the stone walls, constructed
using South Sea Islander Kanakas is behind Mon Repos beach and listed on the Queensland heritage register. (The Mon Repos sugar plantation became the Qunaba refinery in 1900 when it was taken over the Queensland National Bank, hence 'Qunaba'). The Sandhills land development coincided with a similar venture at Burnett Heads with the promoter lobbying for a railway. As evidence of good intent a hotel was built at Sandhills, but the railway only ran a few kilometres from Bundaberg into the cane farms. A railway to Sandhills did not eventuate until 1913, when the quiet seaside village (hotel, school and a few buildings) was renamed by combining parts of the names of two local shires, BARolin and WoonGARRA. In time one 'r' was dropped, and the pronunciation shortened to 'B'garra'.
This was the Sandhills Hotel, believed to be located near where the Don Pancho resort is situated in Miller Street
Moore Park Beach – how it began
Known as Moore Park until 1999, it was named after the proprietor of Tantitha pastoral station (1882) which was one of the two large properties which covered most of the local shire, Gooburrum. Mr Moore donated land to the shire for public purposes.
During the 1920s Moore Park was a popular fishing and seaside location, and the firm beaches were used for motorcycle racing. A
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surf life-saving club started in 1955. By the 1960s a population of over 100 was recorded and in 1969 a bowling club was established. The following year a progress association was formed. Holiday populations outnumbered residents, calling for a reticulated water supply (1977) and a sporting complex. During the 1990s the population more than doubled, and a State primary school opened in 2004.
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