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The
name 'Bundaberg' is a combination of 'Bunda', the name of the local
Aboriginal tribe, with 'burg', the Saxon word for town. The
first European explorer in the area was Henry Russell in 1842. Consequently
it wasn't until 1866 that the first white settlers, the Steuart brothers,
moved into the area.
The
first store on the south bank was built in 1869. Settlement
of the north bank of the Burnett continued until 1870, when a very big
flood destroyed the store and other property. In
the 1870's significant numbers of German and Danish migrants selected and
cleared land in the area, cultivating the fertile river soils. Slowly
stores, hotels, sawmills and factories began to appear along the banks of
the Burnett River. The
first town meeting, in 1873, decided to build a road from Bundaberg to
Mount Perry. In
1879, a schooner sailed up the Burnett River with the first group of South
Seas Islanders/Kanakas, recruited as indentured labourers for the sugar
cane industry.
As the area became the centre of a thriving sugarcane industry refineries and sugar mills were built and the population grew rapidly. A brewery commenced operations in 1883. The railway reached the town in 1888. In 1891 the superb Commercial Bank building (now occupied by the National Australia Bank) was completed. Bundaberg
is since 1913 a progressive modern city. Visitors are well catered for
with excellent shopping, fine restaurants and many attractions. The great
range of affordable accommodation makes Bundaberg an ideal base to explore
the region. |
Australia’s
In
1867 another man called Thomas Watson selected 320 acres near the Steuarts.
Two years later, in 1868, Samuel Johnston bought some land from Thomas
Watson and built a sawmill.
The
city proper was incorporated as a municipality in April 1881, to be called
the Borough of Bundaberg. The first council was elected on June 7.
Bundaberg became a town in 1881.