Publications - Take a Walk Through Palmwoods

A recent publication is a detailed history of many of the buildings and businesses of the township of Palmwoods. 

Palmwoods is one of the oldest towns on the Sunshine Coast and the main street of Palmwoods still has many of the original buildings on their sites.

The book is 212 pages, fully indexed, referenced, illustrated in colour and grayscale images.

Copies are available for $35.00 each 

An edition with black and white images only is available for $30.00

If purchasing two or more copies - each copy is $30.00 each  

 ( Postage and packing up to 3kg is $15.00)

Postage quotes can be provided prior to purchase.

An order form is available for download on the bottom of this page.

ISBN  978-0-9803538-4-6 

From the foreword by Berenis Alcorn ....

Palmwoods has been a progressive small town on the Sunshine Coast for over 120 years. The Colonial Government opened the Maroochy District to selection in 1868 but lack of transport facilities deterred most settlers from taking up land on upper Paynter’s Creek and the Blackall Range. To make selection more attractive, the Government opened the North Coast Railway to traffic in January 1891.

As a further incentive to people interested in a rural way of life to take up selections in the locality, by 3 February 1891, the government surveyor, A. H. Burbank, surveyed the Township then known as Palm Tree along a road adjoining the western boundary of the railway station reserve. Two blocks, where a stationmaster’s residence would later be built, were reserved for public purposes.

In the same year the majority of allotments were sold at the first sale: speculators bought some while permanent residences were built on others. Within a few months, the name of the town was changed to Palmwoods to avoid confusion with another town already named Palmtree.

From 1910 the basic elements of trade in country towns - including the hotel, black smith shop, butchery, general store, bank and a café - transformed the virgin bush into the Palmwoods commercial hub. The basic process of urbanisation led to government facilities such as a post office and police station being established. However, a townscape is more than dwellings and commercial and specialised services, which include medical services. The urban fabric was also the product of community attitudes and values which ensured that sacred, public and open space in the form of churches, a school, hall and a “pavement that tells a story” became part of the landscape. By 2011 a walk around Palmwoods is a walk around a cultural urban landscape.

Visual evidence of this progressive town is presented in the photographs, while the histories capture the ethos of a community that created a cultural heritage for the present generation as well as those to come in the future. Both of these features serve to emphasise the identity of Palmwoods as both a townscape and a cultural urban landscape. The research has been widespread, and the stories, which either came from written records or from the memories of people, link the present to the past. I commend all those who have contributed to the compilation of this book, especially Wendy McMullin and Carolyn Slade. I also commend Genealogy Sunshine Coast for the publication of the book.

After reading the typescript and then walking around Palmwoods, where earlier I had visited many of the sites during a cultural heritage assessment project, I had a greater appreciation of the adventurous and eventful history of the townscape. I am sure that this book will shed new light for research by other members of the wider community into the cultural heritage of their towns.

Berenis Alcorn, B A, M A (Local History), PhD (History), U. Q.

TAKE A WALK AROUND PALMWOODS  - a review by Bronwyn Cozens 

Local historians will be delighted with the newest local history book TAKE A WALK AROUND PALMWOODS. 

Wendy McMullin and Carolyn Slade have shown incredible scholarship and strength of purpose in researching, recording and arranging this fascinating book.

As the title promises, the book is organised as a walk around Palmwoods. The reader is introduced to each individual property, and given a detailed story of all that has occurred on each site since white settlement. All names are printed in bold type, a thoughtful and considerate detail, which adds to the ease and excitement of finding familiar names throughout. The book is generously illustrated, with both modern and very old photographs and maps, in black-and-white and in colour. Many photos are treasures from the early 1900s, others are as recent as 2010. Where possible, these are arranged to allow the reader to identify and compare familiar landmarks.

The authors have used a friendly, relaxed writing style, so the book, as well as having enormous value as a historical record, is a pleasure to read. Above all, the authors have kept the needs of the reader firmly in their sights, and have ensured that the rich information in this book is both accessible and a joy to read. To this end, they have provided an extensive index, a list of all photographs and information sources, listed by individual site location, plus a list of all known businesses operating in Palmwoods, over the past one hundred years.

I have learned so much about a town and area that I thought I knew well. This book will never make it to my bookshelves - it will reside permanently on my coffee table, for my constant reference, and for the delight of my visitors.

This most impressive publication is a ‘must have’ for residents of Palmwoods and the district, and will make a marvellous gift for family and friends with any links to the area. It is a production which will stand the test of time, and will be as valuable, and even more interesting, fifty, even one hundred years from now. I trust it is also being made available as an e-book.

TAKE A WALK AROUND PALMWOODS represents an extraordinary achievement of scholarship and commitment, and I congratulate Carolyn Slade and Wendy McMullin, and Genealogy Sunshine Coast on a job exceedingly well done.