1. The first white settler was Richard Gardiner in 1869 when Southport was known as Nerang Creek Heads.  The Township of Southport was surveyed in 1875and named Southport by 1875. (Longhurst, R., Settlement and Development of Queensland's Gold Coast to 1889)

2. Named Southport on account of its position as the most southern possible port of the Queensland Colony and after the English seaside resort of the same name.  (Hanlon, W.E.  The Early Settlement of the Logan and Albert Districts) 

3. Goo-een is the Aboriginal word for Southport.(Steele, J.G., Aboriginal Pathways in Southeast Queensland and the Richmond River, p63)

As early as 1860 a village reserve was proposed opposite the ‘Boat Passage’ but it  would be some time before this village was surveyed. Meanwhile, many selectors took up farming properties which would later be included in the town. Richard Gardiner built a home and a wharf  near the river end of  Queen  Street and the Loder Family established a farm beside a salt water creek to the south of this reserve. In 1875,  George Pratten was finally  commissioned  to survey a township on the Crown Reserve at Nerang Creek Heads.

 Sale of land was slow but  news of the excellent fishing and  accounts of the Southport’s potential as an idyllic seaside resort   spread to the Brisbane community. An increase in visitors motivated land sales and the construction of holiday accommodation. By  the 1890s,  Southport was the favoured seaside destination for the Queensland  Governor,  Sir Anthony Musgrave and  his entourage. Southport  became a fashionable seaside resort. The Southport Town Council encouraged tree planting, various sideshow amusements, the construction of the Southport Pier and picture theatre.

The Southport jetty (later known as the Pier) was originally built for practical reasons. The main means of contact with Brisbane in the early days  was by  cutter or steamer. On arrival in the Broadwater, a small boat would row into shore to deliver passengers or supplies.  Around 1880, the local people gathered donations from the community and built a small jetty, extended by 1883 to a length of 800 feet. Steamers such as the Natone or the President,  providing a regular service to Brisbane before the railway was built, docked at the pier and visitors could easily walk to the shoreline. In later years, swimming baths were built, and a kiosk erected.  After the railway was linked to Southport, the pier and nearby kiosk and park were enjoyed by weekend railway excursionists, who could promenade upon the jetty  or listen to the town band playing or check the catch of a local fisherman.

Southport was one of the earliest centres of the Gold Coast. Its early dominance, its location facing the Broadwater,  providing  access by sea combined with its position as  the railway terminus from Brisbane, all  ensured its role as an  administrative and business centre. Today, The Southport School, St Hilda’s,  the hospitals, court house and commercial and administrative headquarters  reflect these developments.

  

 Gold Coast Story
  Barney Boulton

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