Yandina, a rural and light industrial town, is situated on the Maroochy River, 100 km north of central Brisbane and 14 km inland from Coolum Beach. It was named after Yandina pastoral run, an area north of the Maroochy River and east of Mount Ninderry, first taken up in about 1857. It is thought that the name was derived from an Aboriginal word describing a passing place (a road or ford).

The road from Brisbane to Gympie passed by the Maroochie Homestead (1868), which included a hotel, police facilities and a post office. The colonial authorities decided on Yandina as the postal name, and a township was surveyed in 1871. Whilst the road deteriorated, the river was navigable, and Yandina was a minor centre for commerce, particularly for the timber trade. A school was opened in 1879 between Yandina and Petrie Creek (Nambour) - a compromise between the two places - and Yandina gained its own local school in 1889. The railway to Yandina was opened in 1891.

There is a heritage-listed house at 12 Wharf Street, built by the Low family in 1893. They had been associated with Yandina since the 1860s.

Yandina's position near two rivers, with fertile hilly country and more level country, enabled it to diversify from fruit growing to sugar and dairying. Processing for sugar cane came within a few kilometres when the Moreton Central Mill was opened in Nambour in 1897.

Early recreational facilities in the township included a racecourse (1896) and the Exclusion Hall (c.1900) owned by the local publican. A Methodist church was opened in 1904, and a school of arts (1916) replaced the old hall. During 1919-23 Anglican, Baptist and Catholic churches were opened, and another two were added to the township in 1940-44. In 1921 the Post Office directory recorded a butcher, baker and blacksmith in Yandina, along with the Maroochy Co-op cash store, and some 110 farmers, fruitgrowers and dairymen. Locally owned, the co-op store had a loyal patronage which carried it into the postwar years with memories of credit given during the Depression years.

In the 1960s a local family purchased land for the first of three industrial estates in Yandina.

In 1979 the Buderim Ginger Factory and retail tourism outlet was closed and moved to the second industrial estate in Yandina, coinciding with the improved local and overseas sales of its products. Beginning in the mid-1980s several town residential subdivisions were released. The recreational needs of the growing population were met by redevelopment of the old racecourse as a sports complex, a multi-purpose facility. The town has an active shopping centre, from churches, a public hall and a primary school. Its census populations have been:

Census DatePopulation

Yandina Centenary Committee, Yandina centenary 1871-1971, Yandina, s.n., 1971

Yandina 125 years 1871-1996, Yandina, Yandina and District Historical Project Group, 1996



UQ Logo