History of Maleny

Aboriginals - the First Settlers

Long before any European settlement occurred on the Blackall Range, the people who ventured into the dense scrub then covering the hills were the Aboriginals. They used to camp on Obi Obi Creek (the name being derived from Ubie Ubie, a famous aboriginal warrior) between present day Maleny, Montville and Flaxton. It is believed that they arrived in Australia about 40,000 years ago. These Aborigines were from the Nalbo, Dallambarra, Dungidau and Garumnga groups of the Wapa tribe.

These groups congregated mainly around Baroon Pocket to gather fruit from the Bunya trees. The fruiting cones or pines from these trees consist of numerous flattened scales in each of which an egg shaped seed is found. Tribes from near and far would gather for a Bonyi Bonyi gathering which included a Bunya nut feast. In 1842 the New South Wales Governor Sir George Gipp, in the Bunya Proclamation, ordered that this whole area be put aside as a reserve for the Aboriginal people.

European Settlement

Europeans arrived here in the early 1840s. An escaped convict, James Doris, claims to be the first arrival in this area. He was quickly followed by the explorer Ludwig Leichhardt in 1843. As settlers came in to claim land at Bald Knob, Conondale, Baroon Pocket and Maleny so too was the Range opened up as a thoroughfare between Brisbane and the goldfields of Gympie further north.

When Queensland achieved independence from N.S.W in 1859, the new Queensland government rescinded the Bunya Proclamation resulting in the opening up of the whole area to white settlement. The aboriginals were then progressively pushed off their traditional lands. Around 1871 the first white settlers arrived in the Obi Obi area and began to remove the beautiful Red Cedar trees growing there.

The first land selections at Obi Obi occurred between 1878 through to 1887. Early settlers included such names as Isaac H. Burgess, Joseph Mccarthy and Francis Dunlop, J Nothling and F.C. Tesch. Maleny first appeared in the Post Office Directory of 1892/3 and neighbouring Teutoberg (this name later charged to Witta) in 1896/7. Razorback, now Montville, settled by Germans such as Carl Martin Nothling and a Dane Thorvald Peter Ludwig opened a school in 1897 called the Razorback Provisional School.

Maleny Mountain, as Maleny was originally called, was named by the Baring Brothers after the Scottish Town of Malleny, south-west of Edinburgh. In 1907 Maleny was growing up with the Hotel Maleny opened and land granted for the Maleny Community Hall.

Growth and Development

The first industry in the area was that of timber felling in the 1870s, and a sign of this activity is still to be found in the use of shute (where logs were slid down the mountain) to be retrieved by bullock teams at the bottom (cf McCarthy Shute Rd, Landershute). Land clearing gave way initially to wooden box manufacturing and then to dairy farming and the introduction of the Maleny Butter factory in 1903. Citrus growing was common in the Montville area.



The Maleny butter factory closed in the 1940s, but the buildings remain today as the Maleny Coop. From the 300 farms in the area, only around 12 remain. Dairy and beef farming has continued throughout the district up to the present with the welcome addition of a new cheese factory in 2004 (there having been five in earlier decades), as has beef farming. Equine activities continue long after the demise of horses as the main form of transport. Cooperatives were introduced to Maleny in 1979, whilst arts and crafts have flourished including pottery, wooden carving and furniture.

The Maleny Folk Festival (now being run annually at Woodford as the Woodford Folk Festival) must be noted for bringing Maleny into international focus, and the Barung Wood Expo at the Showgrounds featured the offerings of local crafts people.

Community Participation and Environmental Change

Over the years this township has been driven by its numerous community groups, with participation mainly on a voluntary basis. These groups have been the backbone of the community for the last 100 years. From deforestation of much of the area through logging in the early days, with resultant erosion of the steep slopes, there has recently been a substantial planting of indigenous species; while the area's roads were transformed from mud tracks to bitumen highways.

The Effect of the Two World Wars and the Depression in the 20th Century

The first World War saw the large German Lutheran community particularly around Teutoberg under threat, resulting in that town's name changed to Witta and that of several German family members changing their names in order to serve their country abroad. The predominently farming community was severely diminished as many of its young left for the trenches of Northern France and Gallipoli.




During the Depression, extra income was derived from the embryonic tourism industry with the first promotional brochure produced in 1920, followed by the Maleny Show in 1923 and a landing of the first aeroplane in Maleny in 1930.

In the second World War Landsborough was used as the railhead for thousands of Australian and American troops stationed in the Caloundra area. A Defence Issue Depot (D.I.D.) housed supplies for them. Only the Negro American troops as they were known as then, were segregated and forbidden to mix with the locals, particularly the girls. The local Padre attended to their spiritual needs whilst the Military Police (Provosts) were always around to keep the boys in order.

Brandenburg Rd, a track up from the coast to the hinterland, was opened up in 1940-41 to serve as an escape route should Caloundra citizens be bombed out.

Maleny Today

What a wonderful place to live in, high up in the Blackall Range at 550 metres (1800 ft) - it's a haven close to heaven. The population is around 6000. Every facility needed by modern society to live comfortably is here: banks, shops, ambulance and police, library, RSL, and a soldiers' memorial hospital as well as government facilities.

The numerous sporting & social groups, co-operative societies and other organisations that are run by the extremely active and innovative community, generate a close, friendly community atmosphere.

The range abounds with wonderful restaurants and cafes, craft shops, wedding and convention facilities and a wide range of superb accommodation from motels and hotels to cabins and cottages, B&Bs, retreats and caravan parks. The views of the coast and Glass House Mountains from lookouts along the Range are stunning. Sightseeing and relaxing are why most visitors come for a weekend, a week and longer. Your visit will be unforgettable.

Local Maleny residents are from wide and diverse backgrounds. Hidden in the hills and valleys can be found retreats of retired corporate high fliers as well as creative artisans, while several new housing estates are under construction to serve the needs of new arrivals. Tourism and retirement retreats will certainly continue to be in great demand well into the future.



Photographs on this page courtesy of State Library of Queensland and Caloundra City Library.

For more historic photographs please visit:

• State Library of Queensland - Picture Queensland
• Picture Australia
  and search for 'Maleny'