Name origins directory | Sunshine Coast Council

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If you have any information regarding the name of a park, place or community infrastructure that is not captured in this directory, please email the Heritage Library Team at [email protected].

Bridge – North Arm
Bill Davison Bridge
Wegner Road, North Arm
Bill Davison was a well-recognised part of the North Arm community on the Sunshine Coast. Bill was a member of many organisation within the community including North Arm School of Arts Committee, Yandina-North Arm, Cane Growers Association, North Arm Rural Fire Brigade and North Arm State School P & C Committee.
Park – Maroochy River
2nd / 14th Australian Infantry Battalion Park
Tinarra Close, Maroochy River
The Battalion formed in Victoria in April 1940 and later joined by many Queenslanders camped on this site 11 May 1942 to 5 August 1942. The Battalion trained over a wide area from Blackall Ranges to the coast and made many friends in the District between 16 August 1942 and 15 January 1943. The Battalion fought on the Kokoda Track and at Gona assisting to drive the Japanese out of Papua. 166 members of the Battalion gave their lives in that campaign.
Park – Buderim
37/52nd Battalion Park
Nirvana Crescent, Buderim
The park commemorates those who served with the 37/52 Australian Infantry Battalion during World War Two. The 37th/52nd Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. Formed in 1930 from two previously existing Militia battalions, the battalion remained on the Australian order of battle until 1937. During World War Two it was revived in 1942 and subsequently saw active service with the 4th Brigade against the Japanese in the Huon Peninsula and New Britain campaigns. It was disbanded after the war in 1946.
Park – Battery Hill
Andrea Ahern Park
Mooya Street, Battery Hill
Named after the wife of ex-Queensland Premier, Mike Ahern who came from Conondale.
Place – Eumundi
C. H. Ball Lookout
Eumundi Range Road, Eumundi
C. H. Ball was an early pioneer who selected land in the Eumundi area in the 1870s.
Park – Nambour
William Parsons Park
Corner Nambour - Mapleton Road and Image Flat Road, Nambour
This property was once owned by William Parsons and was part of what was known then as Parsons Hill. Maroochy Shire Council acquired the property from the Southern Electric Company around 1960. William Parsons was an active part of the local community as a landowner, primary producer and actively involved in numerous committees, social and community organisations. In 1963 he donated $2000 to Maroochy Shire Council towards the development of the park. In view of the high esteem in which Mr. Parsons and his family were held, the council had decided to name the recreation area the William Parsons Park, as a suitable recognition of services faithfully rendered to the community. Date named: 28 June 1963
Park – Little Mountain
Matt Onyett Park
225 Caloundra Road, Little Mountain
For about 35 years Matt Onyett had owned the site for this park, he made special efforts to protect the vegetation on the site for many tears, this area is now the site for park. The park was named to commemorate Matt Onyett's contribution over a period of time to the Caloundra area. Date named: 1 January 2007
Reserve – Woombye
Cobb & Co Bushland Reserve
Woombye
Following the discovery of gold at Gympie in 1867, the Government built a road connecting Brisbane to Gympie. It was completed in October 1868 and by November, Cobb & Co. coaches were carrying passengers, mail, goods and gold between Brisbane and Gympie. This bushland reserve in Woombye is named after the Cobb and Co coaches that used to stop overnight in the town.
Park – Caloundra West
Canavan Gracie Recreational Park
Bellvista Estate, Caloundra West
Named after Doctor June Canavan and her long time friend and Mooloolaba Surf Club Patrol Captain Keith Gracie, who, in August 2009, died in a plane crash in New Guinea. Keith was accompanying Dr Canavan on a fund raising trip to raise $50,000 for the School of St Jude in Tanzania by trekking the Kokoda Track. Date named: 20 September 2012
Park – Moffat Beach
Eleanor Shipley Park
Seaview Terrace, Moffat Beach
Eleanor Brisbane Shipley was the wife of George William Shipley who came into possession of the land in Moffat Beach which now constitutes Eleanor Shipley Park, Moffat Beach, from Francis Moffat in October 1923. On 28 October 1929, Mrs Shipley, by then a widow, transferred the land to the Landsborough Shire Council in Trust 'for the public pleasure, recreational use and sport'. The land is never to be sold. (It is unclear as to if the land was a donation or if the Council paid for it, but rumour has it both ways).
Park – Bli Bli
Sam Bowda Park
Osprey Street, Bli Bli
Sam Bowda was a resident of Bli Bli from the 1930s.
Park – Buderim
William Guy Memorial Park
Buderim
In 1869, Government surveyor William Fryar surveyed Buderim into selections. William Guy selected the first block in 1870, followed by Joseph Dixon and Gustav Reibe. John Fielding, the Burnett brothers, John Caton, James Lindsay and Charles Ballinger were among the pioneer settlers.
Place – Buddina
Frank Huxham Lookout
Pacific Boulevard, Buddina
Frank Huxham was the first secretary of the Kawana Advancement Association following its formation on 4 April 1972. The aim of the Association was to lobby all levels of government to give Kawana some rights. Frank also assisted in a volunteer capacity for the Beach Protection Authority to record tide height and sand loss after Cyclone Wendy hit in February 1972.
Park – Moffat Beach
Rooke Park
Derby Road, Moffat Beach
Prominent businessman Ivo Rooke's legacy will live on in Caloundra through the donation of the majority of his Moffat Beach property to council for parkland. Mr Rooke was one of Caloundra’s most generous and popular personalities who passed away in 2009. Division 2 Councillor Tim Dwyer said the donated land would be named “Rooke Park”. “Mr Rooke was a wonderful contributor to the Caloundra community through his television repair business, as a member of the local Rotary club and a life member of the local ambulance committee. This transfer of land was very important to Mr Rooke & I’m sure he would be thrilled to know that the Caloundra community can now enjoy the place he called home." Date named: 3 November 2011
Park – Landsborough
Skippy Park
Old Landsborough Rd, Landsborough
The park was officially named Skippy Park in recognition of the local kangaroos that frequent the parkland and local bush.
Park – Mooloolaba
Cannon Park
Cannon Park
Mooloolaba's Cannon Park is named after Dudley and Beryl Cannon. The Cannon family first arrived on the Sunshine Coast in the 1880s. Dudley's grandfather, William (Jack) Cannon owned Seaspray Boarding House in Maroochydore in the 1930s. He owned and ran the boarding house for 13 years. William Cannon's son, Richard and his wife Caroline Beatrice Maud Mary Lander owned Wickham Boarding House in Caloundra from 1920 until 1926. Dudley lived in Caloundra with his parents, however when his mother Caroline died, he left Caloundra and went to live with his Uncle Alma and Aunty Elizabeth (nee Cannon) Tucker, near where Tuckers Creek Mooloolaba is today. Beryl and Dudley had five children including Douglas "Dougie" Cannon (who lived in Mooloolaba all his life until passing in 2006), John Richard (Jake) Cannon, Kevin Cannon, Cheryl Cannon and Tony (Tex) Cannon. Kevin Cannon is fifth generation still living on the Coast, his daughter Donna and her sons still live here too. The Cannon family have been fishing from the Coast beaches for 100 years, mostly from Mooloolaba and more recently Mudjimba beaches. Dudley Cannon, became a deep sea fisherman and a well-known Mooloolaba identity. The family still hold the licence to catch mullet today on Mooloolaba Beach but due to the amount of people on the beaches, restrictions to when they can fish and the change in the mullet run, they rarely venture there these days. Dudley and Beryl's son, Kevin Cannon, 69, is known as the 'Mullet Man' and can still be found staring at the sea and watching for the mullet during the season. He recalls days in the 1960s when him and his brother Jake would take their old beaten up car towing their small fishing dingy at 6am to fish for Mullet. This was along the old 'Nicklin Track' before it was a road. Jake would always say "That's not enough...Let's head up Noosa Way'. They'd then drive to Noosa, have a sleep and fish until midnight. In the late 1960s Kevin and Jake purchased a prawn trawler named Margaret Rose. Dudley married Beryl (nee Henricks) on January 16, 1942 at the Maroochydore Baptist Church. Beryl wore a frock of white Shan tung silk and matching accessories and held a bouquet of frangipani and maidenhair fern. She was given away by her father, George Henricks and attended by her sister, Dulcie Henricks. The reception was held at Beryl's parent's home in George St, Maroochydore and the newlyweds decided to settle close by in Mooloolaba. Dudley and Beryl's granddaughter Donna Cannon recalls her grandfather telling her a tale of him watching a Prince swim in Mooloolaba Beach and making sure he wouldn't drown. Donna thought it was just an interesting tale, however she recently discovered an article from December 1934 in the Nambour Chronicle about the occasion. As it turns out, Dudley was quite the Surf Life Saving hero. Another article from Nambour Chronicle in January 20134 documents a Mooloolaba rescue performed by Dudley and his good friend Bill Curruthers during choppy seas and a strong current.